
Class7RiLi££3_ 



(xpighffi?. 



COHRIGHT DEPOSm 



SILKEN THOMAS 



By SAMUEL BYRNE 



Silken Thomas 



Copyright, 1918, By 
Samuel Byrne. 



Published by the Author at 

420 North Highland Avenue, 

Pittsburg, Pa. 



JAN -7 1318 



SILKEN THOMAS 



An Irish Historical Drama. 



Period: i535"37 



Bv Samuel Byrne. 
v 



Ye Geraldines! Ye Geraldines! 
When Silken Thomas flung 
King Henry's sword on council board 

The English Thanes among; 
You never ceased to battle brave 

Against the English sway 
Till axe and brand and treachery 
Your proudest cut away. 

Thomas Davis. 






©C:.D 48669 



v-^ 



PERSONS REPRESENTED. 



Silken Thomas, who at the age of twenty-one was- 
appointed by his father, the Earl of Kildare, and Lord 
Deputy of Ireland, to fill the latter office during the 
Earl's absence in England, whither he has been sum- 
moned by King Henry VIII to answer political charges 
which had been made against him by his enemies in. 
Dublin. 

Monsignor MacHugh, an Irish prelate, who has 

returned from Spain. 
The O'Byrne, an Irish Chieftain in Wicklow. 
O'Donnell, an Irish Chieftain in Tyrconnell. 
Sir James De La Hide, member of the Council of 

State in Dublin; a friend of Lord Kildare. 
Lord RadlEy, aged about fifty, a titled Englishman,. 

charged with a secret mission. 
Allen, Secretary to the Council of State, Dublin, 

and nephew to Archbishop Allen, who was for- 
merly Lord Chancellor of Ireland. 
Taunton, Governor of Newgate Jail, Dublin. ( 
Gerard, a jailor in the secret pay of Radley. 
Two English Workmen. English Soldiers who 

escort Silken Thomas to the gallows. 
Moira, bride of The O'Byrne, and sister of 

O'Donnell. 
Councillors oe State, courtiers, soldiers, O'Don- 

nell's Clansmen, armed with muskets, swords and 

pikes. 

Jerry, Barney, and Mike, Strolling Minstrels. 



SILKEN THOMAS 7" 

ACT I. 

Scene I. — Rural landscape, the grounds adjoining the 
Castle of The O'Byrne in Imail, in the County of 

Wicklow. 

[Enter two of O'Donnell's Soldiers.] 

First Soldier (looking around him) : I felt sure it 
was Larry O'Donovan who was coming this way. 
It looked very like him, anyhow. 

Second Soldier: It was Larry, allright. I could tell 
him from his walk if he was half a mile away. He 
must have turned into that wood over there. 

First Soldier : I am anxious to see him because I 
have a pleasant surprise for him. This morning I 
met a cousin of his who has been living here for 
years, and who would like to hear some news about 
his kinsmen up in Tyrconnell. 

Second Soldier: He'll certainly be glad to see that 
cousin ; for he was talking to me about him not 
long ago, and he said he had not heard from him 
for years. Isn't this Imail a fine country? 

First Soldier: Indeed, it is a fine country, as you say, 
this Imail. 

Second Soldier : We haven't any scenery like it up in 
our Northern land of Tyrconnell, but ours is fine, 
too. It's of a different style. Sure, we have all 
sorts of scenery in Ireland — a variety that doesn't 
exist in any other clime. And I'm not saying that 
because you and I are natives. I've heard members 
of our clan who traveled all over Europe say so. 
Just think of all the different kinds we've passed 
through in our long but leisurely and very pleasant 
march to this place, escorting our beloved chieftain. 



»8 SILKEN THOMAS 

The O'Donnell, Prince of Tyrconnell, and his beau- 
tiful and only sister, the Princess Moira, who this 
morning was wedded to The O'Byrne, the Prince 
of Imail. 

First Soldier: And the historic spots that we've seen 
— especially the battlefields. I can't recall half that 
the Shannakee told us. We saw the ruins of the 
Sassenah castle at Clones that was destroyed by the 
victorious soldiers of The O'Neill in 1212; Drumliff, 
where Godfrey O'Donnell conquered the allied 
armies of the Viceroy and Fitzgerald; Kilmainham 
and Killechin; Knockvoe, where the Sassenah's 
superior numbers defeated our dauntless native 
forces; and Monabraheer, where the defeat of 
Knockvoe was grandly avenged. 

Second Soldier: Ay; grandly avenged, as you rightly 
say. Your mentioning of those battles makes me 
long to be engaged in one. 

First Soldier: And I too. When they called us the 
"Fighting Race" they made no mistake. We're 
born soldiers, every one of us ; and when we haven't 
an opportunity of fighting the common enemy we 
fight a little amongst ourselves, just to keep in 
practice. 

Second Soldier: I hope we'll soon get a chance to 

have a whack at the Sassenah. 
First Soldier : So do I, with all my heart. 

[Exeunt] 

[Enter Jerry, a bagpiper. He looks around as if 
seeking somebody.] 

Bagpiper: What's keeping my two fellow-artists? I 



SILKEN THOMAS 9 

thought I was a little late, but I find I am the first 
at the rendyvoo. 

[Looking to the right.] 

A fine castle he has indeed, The O'Byrne, the 
young chief who got married this morning. I wish 
them joy all their lives, which I hope will be long 
ones. I'll play a tune to pass away the time till my 
colleagues come. 

[Sits down on rustic seat and plays a jig. 
If the audience applauds at the end, he says] : 
Oh! wait till by-and-bye, when we all play 
together. Ah, here's one of them. 

[Enter, Mike;, a Harpist.] 

Harpist: So you're here already, Jerry? 

Jerry: What's the use of asking me such a question 
as that? Don't you see I'm here? 

Harpist : You're always ready with an answer, Jerry. 

Jerry : What did the Lord give me a tongue for ? 

Harpist: Did yeh hear the latest news? 

Jerry: About what, Mike? 

Harpist: I'm told that all the clans are going to be 
united at last. 

Jerry: That's good news, if it's true. Is there any 
special reason? 

Mike: Special reason! Why, there's every reason why 
they should be united. How can we ever beat the 
Sassenah if we're quarrelling among ourselves all 
the time? 

JERRY : True for yeh, Mike. It's time they were driven 
out of the country. Talking about the Sassenah, 
did yeh hear what happened to Patcy Brogan's 
Sassenah landlord in the County Dublin? 



IO SICKEN THOMAS 

Mike: I didn't. 

Jerry: The very day he evicted Patcy and his family 

and took possession of his farm, he fell sick, and 

I hear he's getting worse all the time. 
Mike : The divil's skewer to him ! Here's Barney 

Donovan with his fiddle. 

[Enter Barney, a Fiddler.] 

Jerry: Late as usual, Barney, for our rehearsal. It'll 
soon be time to go into the castle. 

Barney : It wasn't my fault, I tell you. I met Tim 
Hoolahin and his colleen ; and he begged of me, like 
a cripple at a cross-roads, to play them a dancing- 
tune. And she said to me : "Ah ! Barney, do." 
And how could I refuse her, with that sweet voice 
and coaxing look of hers that would soften the 
heart of an anchorite? 

JERRY: Did anybody tell yeh how Tim's grandmother 
won a gold coin by her ready wit the other day? 

Mike : No. 

Barney: I didn't hear of it. 

JERRY : They're so poor, yeh know, after so much sick- 
ness in the family and a bad crop, that she sits in a 
chair in the road on fine days, and offers to pray 
that the good wishes of people passing by may be 
granted, if they give her a little alms. That close- 
fisted Jim McMullen and his wife were passing. 
They got married a few weeks ago, you know. The 
woman beckoned to them, and they went over to 
her and asked her what she wanted. She told them. 
Miserly Jim, who's as crooked as a dog's hind leg, 
bad cess to him ! tried to avoid giving her a little 
money, although his wife urged him. He's a bit 
clever, you know ; and so he says : "How could I 



SILKEN THOMAS II 

have a wish to make? Am'n't I married to Kath- 
leen, and so am the happiest man in the world?" 
She was more than his match. She answered him 
right away: "But could yeh not wish to be always 
as happy as y'are now?" That fixed him. He 
opened his purse, and as there happened to be noth- 
ing there but gold coins, that he had just taken out 
of the bank, he gave her one of them. 

Barney: Did you ever hear how the Irish jig was 
originated, and where? 

The Others: No. 

Barney : In the Garden of Eden. 

Jerry: Whisht, you omadhawn; how could the Irish 
jig have been invented in Paradise? 

Barney: I'll tell yeh. As soon as Adam saw Eve he 
felt interested in her, and no wonder; for she was 
a pretty colleen, by all accounts. He smiled at her, 
and she smiled back at him. Then they stepped 
away from each other a little, to have a good look 
at each other. They fell in love with each other 
right away. Then they kissed each other. No ; I'm 
wrong: He kissed her and she returned the com- 
pliment; and to show how happy they were they 
danced fornist each other, in jig style. And that's 
when and where the Irish jig began. 

Mike : That beats all. 

Jerry: Now that we're all here, let's proceed with our 
practice. 

[They play several tunes.] 

Jerry: They may be ready for us now. Let us not 
wait to be called. Come on. 

[As they are going off Pheeim, one of The 
O' Byrne's soldiers, enters.] 



12 SILKEN THOMAS 

PhELIm : What a beautiful day it is for a wedding ! 
One would think that nature had purposely put on 
her festival attire for the occasion. And the lovely 
Princess Moira deserves all the honors that can be 
bestowed upon her on this joyful day, when she 
joins her sweet young life to that of our noble Chief. 
(Looking upzuard) Her eyes are more prettily blue 
than that sky above; and the love-light that gleams 
and glitters in them to-day makes the sun look like 
the moon in comparison with it. 

[Exit] 

[Enter Moira. The sounds of the minstrels' 
music come from the castle. She listens to them 
with a smile; and then sings the following song] : 

My heart with joy is overflowing, 
And all around is bright and gay; 

Love's perfumes rare 

Suffuse the air; 
For, Oh, this is my wedding day ! 

My wedding day! 

My wedding day ! 
No sweeter words a maid can say. 

The leaves in brightest emerald glisten ; 
The flow'rs their daintiest tints display; 

Each passing breeze 

Laughs through the trees ; 
For Oh, this is my wedding day! 

My wedding day! 

My wedding day! 
No sweeter words a maid can say. 

The lark his merriest notes is warbling; 
The throstle chants his softest lay; 
Love's light outgleams 
The sun's best beams; 



/ 

SILKEN THOMAS • 13 

For Oh, this is my wedding day ! 

My wedding day ! 

My wedding day ! 
No sweeter words a maid can say. 

[Exit into the castle. Pheeim re-enters. Suddenly 
looking to the right] : 

What's that? It looks like the body-guard of 
a Prince. Who is he, I wonder? And they are 
coming in this direction. I must tell The O'Byrne 
about it. 

[Exit] 

[Re-enter Minstrels] 

JERRY : What's that ? Oh, bedad ! here's the young Lord 
Deputy, Silken Thomas., the noble son of the great 
Earl of Kildare. I know him by his rich costume, 
his youthfulness, and his guards. He's a fine fel- 
low, I'm told — puts on no airs because of his posi- 
tion or his aristocratic family, but makes free with 
all alike. 

Mike; : I'm glad to hear that. I don't like those mem- 
bers of high families who act as though they be- 
longed to a superior order of beings altogether. 

[They play] 

[Enter Silken Thomas in a resplendent zvhite 
costume, a white silken fringe on his helmet and 
the same on the helmets of the soldiers who follow 
him j preceded by pages.] 

Silken Thomas: Good morrow, boys; I hope you are 

well. You look as if you were. 
Jerry: Good morrow and joy! my lord. We are all 

well, God be praised ! 



14 SILKEN THOMAS 

Silken Thomas: I am glad to hear it. You have 
come, I suppose, to furnish music at the wedding 
feast which, I understand, is going on in The 
O'Byrne's Castle? 

Barney : Yes, my lord. 

Jerry: We've just had a little rehearsal; and we're all 
in good fettle, as you will soon find out. They tell 
me, my lord, that you like to sing a song yourself 
once in a while. 

Silken Thomas: Yes; I try to sing sometimes. 

Mike: I hope you'll kindly favor us with one at the 
wedding feast. I've never heard a lord sing, and, 
Faith ! I'd like to hear one. It must be fine. 

Mike : Ay, indeed ; it must be great. 

Silken Thomas : Not at all. It is nothing- of the kind. 
Music and song — all the arts, in fact — place all of 
us upon the same level; and as to proficiency in any 
of them, the peasant oftentimes surpasses the prince. 
In bestowing gifts like these Nature makes no dis- 
crimination, or, if she does, she invariably favors 
the humble and lowly. I would wager that each 
of you is a better singer than I. 

Musicians : No, no. 

Silken Thomas : Now, don't be too sure. You may 
be disappointed. 

[Exeunt Silken Thomas and his escort (to left) fol- 
lowed, after a pause, by the Musicians.'] 
[Enter O'Byrne and O'Donnell from right, 
conversing.] 

O'Byrne : I am glad that you are fond of hunting and 
fishing, for we can provide you with lots of both 
in this district during your stay, which I hope will 
not be short. 



SILKEN THOMAS 1 5 

[Enter Pheum] 

PhEum (to 0' Byrne) : A distinguished visitor has 
arrived at the castle — the young Lord Deputy, Lord 
Thomas Fitzgerald, the son of the Earl of Kildare. 

O'Byrne : What can be the purpose of this unexpected 
visit of Silken Thomas? 

O'Donnlll: Silken Thomas/ Is that what you call 
him here? 

O'ByrnE: That is the name they give him in Kildare 
and Dublin. 

O'Donnlll: Why? 

O'ByrnE : His mother, who has been dead for some 
years, was so fond of him that she always insisted 
upon his wearing rich silken garments; and now 
that she is no more he continues to do so out of 
respect for her memory. His personal guards, too, 
wear a white silken fringe in their caps. As you 
know, his father, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, the 
personal representative of the English King in this 
country, appointed him in his own place, notwith- 
standing his youth — he is only 21 years of age — 
during his absence in London, where he has been 
suddenly summoned by King Henry to answer 
serious charges that have been made against him by 
the Sassenah members of his Council of State. 

O'Donnlll : I did not know he was so young. Such a 
lofty and responsible position requires not only some 
statemanship, but also some knowledge of men and 
of political affairs. 

O'ByrnL: You may depend upon it — his father knew 
what he was doing when he appointed him. He has 
trained the youth well. A fault of Silken Thomas 
is that he is impulsive and is inclined to be rash. 



l6 SILKEN THOMAS 

That disposition he inherits from his father. But, 
apart from that, he is, they tell me, clever and wise 
beyond his years. He is a scholar, a patriot, and a 
good swordsman. 

O'Donnell : I shall be glad to make the acquaintance 
of so picturesque a personality. 

O'Byrne: Come on, then; and I shall introduce you to 
him. But here he comes in search of me. 

[Enter Silken Thomas, Moira and 

MONSIGNOR MACHUGH.] 

O'Byrne: (Shaking Silken Thomas' hand). I am 
delighted to see you, Lord Thomas. To what cir- 
cumstance do we owe the honor and pleasure of 
your presence? 

Silken Thomas: I was travelling in this vicinity, and 
I heard that this was your wedding-day; so I have 
come to offer you and your bride my felicitations 
and best wishes. For I remember having seen you 
in my father's house, Earl's Court, near Dublin, and 
I have heard him mention your name several times. 

O'Byrne: I am grateful for your kind thoughtfulness. 
This is the bride (presents Moira to him). This is 
her brother, The O'Donnell, the Chief of Tyrconnell 
(presents O'Donnell to him). And this is Mon- 
signor MacHugh, lately returned from Spain, who 
married us this morning, and whose parents were 
friends of mine (presents the Monsignor to him). 

[Enter Peasant, running.] 

Peasant: I beg a thousand pardons, gentlemen. I've 
been told there's a priest here. (O'Byrne points to 
Monsignor MacHugh) Father, an uncle of mine 
who has been sick for some time has taken a turn 



SILKEN THOMAS 17 

for the worse. Our own Soggartfi Aroon has just 
gone on a sick call that came from the other end 
of the parish; and as I heard there was a priest 
staying at the Castle I hurried here. 
Monsignor: I must leave you for a while, my friends. 

[Exeunt Monsignor and Peasant.] 

Moira: I hope you will not be detained long. {Look- 
ing to left) Somebody is calling me. 

[Exit] 

O'Byrne: (To Silken Thomas) Your kindly visit 
is a new departure. Hitherto the authorities in 
Dublin have shown scant courtesy to us native 
Chiefs. 

.Silken Thomas : That is true ; and I am very sorry 
to say so. But my father has resolved to put an end 
to the wrongful system under which the official 
recognition and honor that are due to the princely 
heads of our native clans have been withheld from 
them. And why should he not do so? Are we not 
all peers in rank and lineage — brother-patriots? 
The foes of Ireland are our common foes, and the 
welfare of Ireland is our common aim. -j 

'O'Donnell : I am very agreeably surprised to hear you 
speak like that 

O'Byrne: (To O'Donnell). Then you have not yet 
heard about his father's grand project — the estab- 
lishment of a National League of Patriots, whose 
one aim will be to make our country prosperous and 
happy ? 

O'Donnell: Oh, that was what my uncle was going 
to tell me about before I started from home. He 
had been visiting Dublin ; and while there had called 



IS SILKEN THOMAS 

to see the Earl of Kildare. As I was in a hurry 
to begin my long journey here, he told me that it 
would be time enough to speak to me about it when 
I came back, especially as it was a matter that 
required careful consideration. And he added that 
perhaps you would discuss it with me. 

O'ByrnE : It was certainly my intention to do so, 
although it is a little premature to talk about it yet. 

Silken Thomas : Before my father set sail for 
London, he spoke to me enthusiastically about it. 
(To O'Byrne) I know that he has been consulting 
you and other Chieftains about it, and has also men- 
tioned it to friends and relatives of those whom he 
has not yet seen personally. 

O'Byrne : And what, may I ask, do you think of his 
great design, Lord Thomas? 

Silken Thomas : My father's views, purposes, and 
hopes are also mine. 

O'Byrne: Those manly, patriotic words do honor alike 
to your head and your heart. 

O'Donnell: Your father can count with the utmost 
confidence upon the hearty and active support of 
my clan; and I know that he may also rely upon 
that of the Clan O'Neill. 

O' Byrne : Tyrconnell and Tyrowen have always been 
staunch and true. 

O'Donnell: And always will be. 

Silken Thomas : The gallant and ever faithful North !' 

O'Donnell: (aside) Who would have suspected such 
warm patriotism in these Geraldines? 

O'Byrne: Your father's predecessors held very differ- 
ent opinions from his in connection with the govern- 



SILKEN THOMAS 19 

ment of Ireland. They did their best, in fact, to 
crush the patriotic spirit in our breasts. 

Silken Thomas: Alas, that is true. They were mis- 
taken and misguided. Otherwise they would never 
have undertaken so futile, nay, so hopeless as well 
as so unpatriotic a task. 

O'Byrne: Hopeless and unpatriotic — yes. In vain 
they and the heads of other houses have waged war 
upon our devoted clans, and have expended much 
money in efforts to corrupt our followers. But the 
dauntless spirit of our nationality has never drooped 
and never shall droop; for it is incorporated with 
our blood, glowing with an unquenchable flame in 
our hearts and souls, the very core and fibre of our 
being, like our old Faith. 

Silken Thomas: Let us forget those evil deeds and 
the evil days when they were done. 

O'Donnell : Ay, let us forget them, and forgive them 
too, in view of the era of peace, liberty and pros- 
perity that will soon begin. 

O'Byrne : To hasten on the dawn of that bright day a 
great, popular and trusted leader is required — a 
patriot, a warrior, and a statesman, all in one. Such 
a man is your noble father. But the question is : 
Will the King permit him to come back? His 
majesty is known to be fickle; and I have heard that 
he is jealous of your father's growing popularity 
and influence with our people. 

Silken Thomas : Oh, there need be no doubt whatever 
as to his early return. Whatever charges have been 
made against him cannot be serious. Whether they 
are, or are not, however, I feel certain that he will 
clear himself. 



20 SILKEN THOMAS 

O'Byrne: I hope so. But pardon me if I say that I 
have my doubts as to his getting a fair hearing witb 
the King and his Councillors. 

Silken Thomas: (zvith energy, and placing his hand 
on the hilt of his sword) If my father is treated 
with unfairness, injustice, or indignity by the Royal 
Council — yea, or by the King himself. — (He smiles). 
But there is no ground for alarm. My father's life 
has always been dominated by a passionate devotion 
to his King and his country. 

O'Donnell: (aside) How can he really love his 
native land if he is loyal to its usurping King? 
(Aloud) His King and his country! Does not the 
English King account it treason for us to love our 
native land? 

Silken Thomas: Surely not. If that were so my 
father and I would be regarded by him as a pair of 
traitors. 

O'Donnell: Some of his representatives do certainly 
look upon us native chiefs as traitors — or, at least, 
as rebels. 

Silken Thomas: Yes, I know that. But the King is 
not to blame for that. His majesty desires that we 
should all be peaceable, prosperous and contented. 

O'Donnell: (aside) Moryah! 

[O'Byrne smiles.] 

O'Byrne: But come, Lord Thomas, and be our 

honored guest at the wedding feast. 
O'Donnell: (looking to the right) A battalion of 

my clansmen is approaching. 

[Exeunt] 



SILKEN THOMAS 21 

(Music is heard in the distance, growing louder 
as it comes nearer — the March, "O'Donnell Abool" 
Enter Soldiers, some armed with swords, some with 
pikes, and some with muskets. They continue 
marching for a minute or tzvo, entering the stage at 
one side and leaving it by another, and returning on 
the other side, thus conveying the idea that they are 
much more numerous than they are. 

[Curtain.] 

Scene II. — The same at night. Moonlight. 

[Enter Moira, bride of O'Byrne, looking around her as 
if expecting to see somebody.] 

Moira: What can my brother mean by sending me a 
message by one of his men asking me to see him 
here alone about something very important? Surely 
he has not had a quarrel with my husband ? Heaven 
forbid ! Men of our impulsive race are swift to get 
angry, even over a fancied slight or insult, just as 
they are swift to forgive and forget. 

[Enter Lord RadlEy, his sword in his belt.] 

What ! You dare to come here again, after the 
impudent remark you made to me yesterday! I 
should have told my brother about it, or my hus- 
band; but I forgot all about it today. 

Radeey : Your husband ? Oh, yes ; you were married 
today. What a winsome bride you are ! That word, 
"husband," coming from your lips, makes me 
jealous. 



22 SILKEN THOMAS 

Moira: Begone, insulting stranger ! (looking anxiously 
to the right and then to the left). But my brother 
will soon be here; and when I tell him that you, 
a Sassenah, have been trying to force your unwel- 
come acquaintance upon me; that you have been 
rude to me — nay, insulting to me — he will give you 
the thrashing that you deserve. 

RadlEy : Rude to you ! Insulting to you ! I am incap- 
able of being either to any lady, and least of all 
to you, for whom, although this is only the second 
time that I have seen you, I have great respect, 
deep regard, sincere admiration, and — do not chide 
me for its hasty growth — genuine affection. When 
I saw you walking alone here yesterday I said to 
myself: "There is the prettiest and most charming 
woman I have ever seen." I at once made inquiries 
about you, and got all the information I desired. 
I have a proposal to make to you 

Moira: How dare you talk like that to me? 

RadlEy: Wait a moment, Lady Moira — you see, I 
know your name; and a sweet one it is (Aside:) I 
shall first try to touch her imagination with a few 
poetical phrases that I memorized this morning 
when I devised this scheme for having a private 
interview with her. (Aloud:) If you grant my 
request you will find my castle across the sea to be 
a veritable palace-bower of love, where gorgeous 
garments, costliest jewels, and gold in profusion 
shall be yours; with vassals to do your bidding, 
accomplished musicians to fill the air with rapturous 
melodies and choicest flowers to suffuse it with 
dreamy perfumes; where yours shall be halcyon 
days and ambrosial nights. 



SILKEN THOMAS 23 

Moira: (Aside) Is he a lunatic? or is he sane and 
serious? (Aloud:) If you are in your right 
senses 

Radley : I am, I assure you. Why do you ask me 
such a question? 

Moira: Then I say that you know little about the 
daughters of Erin if you think that the poorest, the 
lowliest, of them could be thus lured from the path 
of virtue. Love may tempt them. Gold can not. 

[Bnter O'Byrne unobserved.] 

O'ByrnE: That sounds like Moira' s voice. (Sees 
Moira and RadlEy.) What! Can I believe my 
eyes? Moira, my bride of this morning, talking 
here in the dark to a strange man ! What does it 
mean? I'll try to be patient. 

RadlEy: Nicely spoken, fair champion of your coun- 
trywomen. But you forget that women are the 
same all the world over. Sex and passion have no 
nationality. I am a noble 

Moira : Noble ! — in an ironical sense. That princely 
word has no application to men like you. 

Radley: (Irritably) Don't interrupt me, please. I am 
a member of the nobility 

Moira : Nobility can never be allied with dishonor. 

RadlEy: I am prominently connected with King 
Henry's court, and have been charged with a special 
mission in this country at present. The important 
work which I was specially sent here to do is 
finished; and I shall soon set sail for home. If you 
are wise you will avail yourself of the magnificent 
opportunity that I offer you ; you will come with 
me. 



24 SILKEN THOMAS 

Moira: {Looking to the right and left) What keeps 
my brother ? Oh, that he or my husband were here ! 

RadlEy : Your brother is not coming. It was I who 
arranged this romantic rendez-vous by having a note 
sent to you purporting to come from him. 

Moira: Dishonorable trickster! Scoundrel! Reprobate! 
Nobody with a spark of manliness left in him would 
stoop to so mean, cowardly and despicable a subter- 
fuge as this. 

O'Byrns: {Aside) Good! God bless you, Moira! 
{Draws his sivord.) 

RadIvEy: It was a lover's stratagem. All things, they 
say, are fair in love and war. Now, listen to me, 
and be sensible. What prospects have you here? 
A rebel's wife; a rebel's home — what a precarious 
life and lot ! I can send your husband to a dungeon 
or to the headsman's block whenever it pleases me 
to do so! So you see, your destiny and his are both 
in my keeping. Yield to my desire, then — with 
feigned reluctance, if you will — but 

Moira : Our destinies are in the hands of God. Begone, 
you loathsome Sassenah ! 

Radi,ey: You spurn and defy me, eh? Then I shall 
change my methods. I have given you a chance 
to yield with grace and dignity. Now, goaded by 
your insolence, I shall use force. Come ; I'll stand 
no further trifling. My carriage is waiting for us 
close by. {Advances to Moira) You shall be mine! 
(Puts his arm around her) You are mine! 
[Moira Screams.'] 

O'Byrne : Stand aside, Moira acushla, lest by accident 
my sword should touch you. ( To Radley. ) Villain ! 
You shall expiate this outrage with your life. 



SILKEN THOMAS 2$ 

Radley: {defending himself with his sword.) What! 
Listening all the time! Foolhardy lout! You are 
courting death, and you shall win it. 

[They Fight.'] 

RadeEy: {Warding off O'Byrne's attacks with diffi- 
culty and retreating step by step) — This rascal 
fights like a fiend. I did not bargain — Ho, men! 
draw near ! Haste ! Haste ! 

(O'Byrne by a skillful turn of his sword 
zvrenches Radl-Ey's from his hand. Radley quickly 
jumps back; four soldiers in red coats rush on the 
scene with drawn swords and attack O'Byrne). 

O'Byrne: {Fighting them furiously) Come on! Come 
on ! a dozen of you Sassenah — ay, a hundred ! 

Moira: {Clasping her hands in distress). Help him, 
O Heaven! in this unequal struggle. 

Radley: {Examining his clothes and feeling his body). 
No blood! No wounds! I could have sworn I felt 
his blade prod me somewhere. How lucky it was 
that I had my men near! {To his men) Disarm him. 
Do not kill him. His time has yet to come. 

[O'Byrne is Overpowered.] 

Good ! Now hold him fast and take him to the 

carriage. I'll take his bride along. {Puts his arm 

around Moira again.) 
Moira: {Looking to the right.) Thank God! My 

brother, accompanied by some of his men, is coming. 
Radley: {Looking in the same direction) — Quick, 

quick! A lot of rebels are approaching. 

(Moira escapes from his grasp and runs to the 

left. ) Curses on them ! She has escaped from me. 

But I shall catch her soon. 



26 SILKEN THOMAS 

O'ByrnE : You old profligate ! If you ever hurt a hair 
of her head I'll run my sword through your evil 
heart. 

[Exeunt] 
(Enter O'DonneXi, with several of his followers.) 

O'DonneXi, : (to Moira.) I heard angry voices and 
the clash of swords in this direction; and hastened 
hither. What was the fight about and who took part 
in it ? And what brings you here, Moira dear ? 

Moira: (Excitedly) — A middle-aged man who claims 
that he belongs to the English nobility was in this 
neighborhood yesterday, and had the impudence to 
try to get into a conversation with me. I repulsed 
his rudeness and walked on. A little while ago he 
lured me here by sending me a message supposed 
to have come from you, asking me to meet you here 
in reference to an important subject. Foolishly un- 
suspicious, I came. He had arranged to abduct me. 
A carriage and several armed men were waiting 
close by, concealed in the darkness. O'Byrni; hap- 
pened to be near when he seized me. They fought; 
but his men rushed to his assistance, overpowered 
O'Byrne, and took him to the carriage. He had 
begun to drag me along when I fortunately tore 
myself from his grasp ; and then, thank Heaven ! 
I saw you coming. But you must hurry and catch 
up to them. 

O'DonnBu, : My dear sister, when you received that 
strange message you ought to have doubted its 
authenticity. But there is no time to talk about it 
now. I'll take half a dozen of my horsemen and 
start immediately in pursuit of those Sassenah ruf- 



SILKEN THOMAS 2?] 

fians ; and it will go hard with me if I don't soon 
overtake them. 

[End op First Act.] 



28 SILKEN THOMAS 



ACT II. 

Scene I. — Rural landscape, the grounds adjoining May- 
nooth Castle, the ancestral home of the Earls of 
Kildare. 

[Enter Monsignor MacHugh.] 

Monsignor: (Looking around him, smiling) How I 
do love this dear old land of mine! Nowhere else 
is the sky so tenderly blue or the grass so refresh- 
ingly green, or the flowers so varied and beautiful. 
Land of pure and lovely womanhood and of brave 
and virtuous manhood ! I esteem- myself highly 
privileged to be numbered amongst your sons. 
There is hardly a mountain of yours that has not its 
mystery, a valley that has not its legend, a castle 
or a cabin that has not its romance. Prosperity and 
happiness should always be your portion. 
[He advances a few steps.] 
[Enter Silken Thomas, attended by pages. On seeing 
Monsignor he pauses and listens unobserved by him*] 
Oh, what pure joy it is to be alone 
With Nature in her kindliest mood, as now 
She is, suffused with summer's noon-day warmth, 
And canopied in fleckless blue, uplifting 
The heart that is responsive to the spell 
Of Beauty, Poesy, and Music, as 
The mystic glamor of a starry night, 
By Cynthia's subtile radiance solemnized, 
Fills with a sad-sweet ecstasy the mind 
Whose brighter gleams have passed through Pas- 
sion's prism. 



SILKEN THOMAS 20 

\ 

(He pauses, and looks towards the castle.) 
There stands Maynooth, the castle of Kildare, 
Whose noble son with honor fills his post, 
Till to his native country he returns. 
I come to sue for justice. 

Silken Thomas (Aside) : 

Justice thou 
Shalt have, and generosity as well. 

Monsignor (gazing upward) : 

In casual currents of our highest thoughts 
We sometimes catch a momentary glimpse 
Of the Almighty's plans; and our rapt minds 
Rise from our bodies and, in awe sublime, 
Sense dimly some of Life's great mysteries. 

[He pauses and reflects] 

Silken Thomas (Aside) : 

I shall be glad to make a bosom friend 
Of this philosopher. And willingly 
I shall comply with his request at once. 

Monsignor : 

O holy, changeless and undying Church! 
Whose only aim is man's true welfare here 
And everlasting bliss beyond the tomb ! 
Benignant mother, whose most gladsome task 
Is timely rescue of the outcast souls 
That, shipwrecked, famished, aimless, hopeless, roam 
The bleakest shores of life's uncharted seas. 
Heaven speed the destined day when all mankind 
With grace-illumined vision shall behold , 

The light divine that marks thy mystic way 
Athwart the ages ! — that same sacred light 
Of which wise Socrates, that pagan saint, 



30 SILKEN THOMAS 

While vaguely yearning for the coming Faith, 
Once saw a far-off foregleam. Had he lived 
Till Christ, the Keystone of the Arch of Time, 
Humanity's Expectance and Desire, 
Arrived on earth, as had been prophesied, 
How joyed he would have been! But I must go 
To see Lord Thomas. 

Silken Thomas {stepping forward) : 
He is here. 

(Monsignor starts) Surprised 

At this, my sudden apparition? Well, 

Anon I shall explain it. 

(Holds out his hand to Monsignor) 

Welcome here! 

Monsignor: 

This condescension, this politeness, fill 
My heart with gratitude, Lord Deputy. 

Silken Thomas: 

No condescension this. As man to man, 

Or, if thou wilt, as friend to friend, I greet thee. 

Monsignor : 

Friendship ! Ennobling, Heaven-born sentiment ! 
Surpassing woman's tenderest, truest love, 
And more enduring ! May it not be said 
That friendship is the better part of love ? 

Silken Thomas: 

It may, I think, with truth. But let's postpone 

This philosophic conversation till • j 

A more appropriate time encourages 

Us to pursue it farther. I assure 

Thee that, thine obvious scholarship aside, 

The sacred office that thy garb proclaims 

Commands my deep respect. 



silken thomas 31 

Monsignor : 

Thou hast the mien 
Of one who recently hath felt the pang 
That smites the fresh and glowing heart of Youth 
When from his dreamy height he must descend 
To Manhood's prosy plain, mayhap to dwell 
With minds o'er which bright Fancy never flung 
Her opalescent glamor — souls whose thoughts 
Ascend no higher than their sordid selves, 
Whose aims and aspirations are confined 
Within the stinted scope of their dull view. 
To have much wealth, to have much pleasure — these 
Their life-ambitions are. With that base kind 
'Twill chill thine ardent nature to consort. 

Sii*KEN Thomas: 

But I meet nobler minds — just now thine own, 
That with the gems of highest knowledge gleams. 
(Smiling.) I overheard thee but a moment since 
Robing in simple but becoming words 
Some rare and holy thoughts. 

Monsignor : 

Amongst our chiefs, 
And their devoted clansmen, there are men 
Who with the virtues that exalt a race, 
And nurture heroes, richly are endowed. 
Our Irish peasants are a race apart : 
The fervor of their Faith e'er keeps them true, 
Through all her trials, to their motherland ; 
Their Keltic ardor makes their Faith sublime — • 
Untitled nobles in their humble lives, 
And saints uncanonized when they are dead. 

Silken Thomas: 

That generous eulogy they well deserve. 



32 silken thomas 

Monsignor : 

My lord, to crave a favor at thy hands 
I have come hither. 

Silken Thomas: 

What is thy request? 

\ Enter RadlEy, unobserved; he hides behind a 
tree and listens.] 

Monsignor : 

A royal courtier, from across the sea, 
Made an audacious effort to abduct 
The bride of The O'Byrne, the gallant chief 
Of Wicklow, on their very wedding day. 

Silken Thomas: 

O'Byrne' s fair bride! Why, I called there myself 
To wish them joy that day. 

Monsignor : 

I saw you there. 

Silken Thomas : 

A very pleasant time we had. I am 
Amazed to hear that such a happy day 
Was closed with such a grievous incident. 

Monsignor : 

Pie trapped her by a letter falsely signed 

As written by her brother, who had come 

Down from the trusty North. The Wicklow chief 

Arrived in time to baffle his design. 

They fought; and The O'Byrne disarmed the 

wretch, 
But soon was overpowered by his men, 
Bound, and forthwith to Dublin carried off. 
In Newgate Jail he is imprisoned now. 

Silken Thomas (Angrily) : 

And has it come to this: That in our land 



SILKEN THOMAS 33 

No longer Innocence and Virtue may 
In the broad light of day go forth without 
Incurring risk of insult at the hands 
Of titled ruffians? 

Monsignor : 

Outrages like this 
Should not occur in our old motherland, 
That has for many centuries enjoyed 
A high repute in Christendom — a nation 
Meant by the Almighty to be pure and free, 
Contented, prosperous, and progressive; where 
Justice and wisdom should harmoniously 
Blend in enlightened statesmanship; and where 
Both peasant and patrician equal rights 
Should have before the law, just as they have 
In Holy Church's eyes. 

Silken Thomas: 

And such a country 
Ours soon will be, if God will only spare 
My father to achieve the purposes 
He has so close at heart — unless, alas ! 
Another period of destructive strife 
And widespread, cruel suffering remains 
In store for her. There is a prophecy 
Of which I heard some time ago, which said 
That after being for an age the home 
Of ripest scholarship and brilliant minds, 
She would pass through an era of distress 
And fearful persecution. — 

Monsignor: 

I recall 
That prophecy. It is by Malachy, 
The Irish saint who, for all future time, 



34 SILKEN THOMAS 

Foretold, in mottoes brief yet clear, the fate 

And personality of every Pope. 

It was recorded by a brother-saint 

Who knelt beside him when he passed away. 

These are his words — I well remember them : 

"This prophecy, upon his dying bed, 

He made with tearful eyes; and I have writ 

His words exactly as he uttered them : 

'Island of Saints and Teachers in the past, 

Island cf Martyrs in the time to come 

For several hundred bitter years; and then 

Island of missionaries who shall spread 

The Faith through mighty nations yet unknown; 

Peace, unity, contentment thine at iast.' " 

Silken Thomas: 

Let us devoutly hope those years of woe 
That he predicts have now all run their course. 

Monsignor : 

God grant thy hope ! And now the favor I 
Have come to ask of thee today. 

Silkln Thomas: 

A strict 
Investigation shall at once be made 
Into this villainous outrage. Rest assured 
Tomorrow The O'Byrnl shall be released. 

Monsignor : 

Say not : "Tomorrow." That day ne'er shall come. 
In yonder fuller, endless life today 
Shall be tomorrow for eternity, 
And yesterday shall ever be today. 

Silken Thomas: 

At once, then, I shall send a messenger 
To Taunton, Governor of Newgate Jail. 



SIDKEN THOMAS 35 

The Wicklow Chief his freedom shall regain 
Before the setting of another sun. 

[Enter Page] 

My Lord, an officer with urgent mien 



Awaits thee at the Castle. 
Silken Thomas : 

Page: 

Fegrus O'Donnele. 
Monsignor : 

Of Chief O'Byrne. 
Silken Thomas : 



Who is he? 



Brother of the bride 



Go tell him his request 
Is granted ere he gives it verbal form. 
Ask him to stay and be my guest. 

[Exit Page] 

Before 
My father went to London, he convened 
His councillors at Drogheda, and there 
He gravely handed me his sword of state. 
"Wear thou this sword till I return," he said, 
"Th,e symbol of the King's authority. 
Upon the path of justice keep thy feet. 
Be guided by my council. Thou art young, 
Though wise, and needest their mature advice. 
I am now in the eventide of life, 
And thou art in its forenoon. Act thy part 
So that thy day, howe'er at times o'ercast, 
In honor's mellow sunset shall decline. 
Farewell, my son. We nevermore may meet 
This side the grave, May God thy footsteps keep !" 



36 silken thomas 

Monsignor : 

A dignified farewell, with sorrow tinged, 
As if the shadow of impending woe 
O'ercast his thought. 

Silken Thomas: 

His voice was trembling, too, 
As though his heart, that stout and fearless heart, 
Quailed at the prospect of approaching doom. 
My own is troubled since he went away. 

Monsignor : 

But is there aught to fear? 

Silken Thomas: 

Naught that I know. 

Monsignor : 

Then let the buoyancy of early youth, 
Which still is yours, assert itself again. 

Silken Thomas: 

The stately functions that I now discharge 

O'ertax my limited capacity. 

They are, besides, quite foreign to my taste. 

Monsignor : 

That thou possessest all the needed gifts 
Which could distinction bring to one who fills 
The post that now is thine, oft have I heard 
Since I arrived from Spain, a brief sojourn 
To make amongst my relatives; and that 
Thou art not only wise beyond thy years, 
But that thou hast already given proof 
That thou art motived, in thy public acts. 
By that rare intuition which, combined 
With something of the science and the art 
Of higher politics, proclaims the statesman. 



sicken thomas 37 

Silken Thomas: 

If such a good report of me is current 
Amongst our people, 'tis not merited. 
'Tis to my father that the credit's due. 
A born aristocrat, of lineage long, 
His sympathies, his heart, have ever been 
With that democracy which still persists 
Since classic Greece's ancient, golden age; 
And shall persist, I do believe, throughout 
The future ages of humanity. 

Monsignor : 

Thou art acquainted, then, with classic lore? 

Silken Thomas: 

Yes ; I have read much, and have studied, too, 
The volumes which I thought were worth the pains. 
But though no small amount of time I've spent 
Acquiring knowledge, wisdom, culture, from 
The silent voices of the lettered dead, 
Yet they are not congenial to a man 
With such a temperament as I have. Spain! 
Didst thou assert thou hast arrived from Spain,. 
That land with which we Irish have so long 
Had friendly and commercial intercourse? 

Monsignor : 

Yes ; in that country now my duties lie. 
What other portion of the Master's field 
I next must labor in, .1 know not yet. 

Silken Thomas: 

Each has his own appointed course to run. 

There is at times a tumult in my heart 

That bodes for me a course of noisy strife. 

The battlefield is my ancestral home ; 

The measured tramp of troops, the clash of steel, 



38 SILKEN THOMAS 

The musket's rattle, and the cannon's roar, 

The groans of dying foes — these martial sounds, 

And these alone, make music in my ear. 

But thine, my friend, is bloodless warfare; thine 

The peaceful conquests of rebellious souls, 

Who, in thy triumph, and their own defeat, 

Unfeignedly rejoice. 

[Taking Monsignor's arm] 

Come; be my guest. 
[Exeunt] 

RadlEy: (Leaving his hiding-place.) I have a two- 
fold object in paying this brief visit to Maynooth. 
In the first place, I want to make~ this serious-minded 
and highly-gifted youth believe that I am a loyal 
friend of his father; and in the second, I want to 
study him a bit, for my own satisfaction. His char- 
acter perplexes me. He is only a boy in years ; but 
in demeanor and also, I have been told, in conversa- 
tion, he is a man. How lucky I was to come at the 
moment I did, when that prelatical friend of the 
Wicklow rebel was asking him for an order for his 
release! I must intercept that order by all means. 

[Enter Allen, Secretary of the Lord Deputy's 
Council^ Dublin.] 

Allen : You here, Lord RadlEy ! This is an unex- 
pected meeting. 

RadlEy: Now that our plot against his father is near- 
ing success I thought it advisable to have a pleasant 
chat with Lord Thomas, with the object of disarm- 
ing any suspicion he may have entertained about 
me, and of giving him the impression that I am one 



SILKEN THOMAS 39 

of the best friends and sincerest admirers his father 
has. 

Allen : (smiling) It won't take you long to make him 
believe that. 

Radley : What pressing business brings you here ? 

Allen : It is urgent, but not very important. I mislaid 
an order-in-council which I should have presented 
to him with others for his signature after the last 
meeting; and as I don't expect him back in Dublin 
this week I came here with it. I went to your 
residence a couple of days ago to have a talk with 
you, but was informed that you were out of town. 
Another amo/ous adventure, I suppose? 

Radley : Your supposition is correct. 

Allen : Anything special ? 

RadlLy: Very special — a young woman who is more 
attractive to me than any I have ever met before. 

Allen: You are in luck. 

RadlEy : I am, and I am not. 

Allen : A dubious phrase. i 

RadlEy: It is a dubious case. 

Allen : She is young, you say. Is she married or 
single — maid, wife or widow? 

RadlEy: She is all three. 

Allen : You are trying to humbug me. 

RadlEy: I'm not. Let me explain. I was after some 
other game when I accidentally saw her alone. I 
tried to engage her in conversation ; but she repulsed 
me with that exasperating, frigid air which the 
vicious as well as the virtuous can put on. Her dis- 
dain made her all the more charming, all the more 
desirable, to me. 

Allen : That is only natural. 



40 SILKEN THOMAS 

Radley: But there is an indefinable something about 
her that has thrown a passionate spell over me. To 
possess that Irish Diana would be for me the very 
acme of pleasure. You can help me to accomplish 
my purpose. 

Allen : I ! How ? 

Radley : I learned that she was to be married the fol- 
lowing day. I made arrangements to carry her off. 
The plan I adopted failed of success by a mere acci- 
dent. Her bridegroom, a rebel chief, happened to 
come along just as I was about to carry her to the 
coach that I had waiting nearby. There was a sharp 
scuffle; and we made a prisoner of him. He is in 
Newgate Jail, Dublin, now, charged by me with 
treason against his majesty the King. As you know, 
we can imprison any number of these Irishmen, 
high or low, on that charge, and keep them in jail 
as long as we like without any trial at all. This, 
however, is an exception. He is a personal friend 
of Lord Thomas. 

AeeEn : But what can I do to help your amorous 
enterprise along? 

Radley: If this Irish chieftain were out of my way 
I feel confident that I would succeed. 

Allen: How do you propose to get him out of your 
way? 

Radley : By having him hanged or beheaded, of course. 
All you have to do is to send an order as coming 
from the Council to the Governor of the Jail, and 
he will be sent to the block or to the gallows. 

Allen : The thought of taking a human life in such a 
cold-blooded way makes me shudder. 

Radley: But he's only an Irishman. 



SILKEN THOMAS 41 

Allen : Even so. It would be — murder. 

Radley : You are too scrupulous for these hardy times. 

Allen : I have a conscience. 

Radley : An inconvenient thing for an ambitious 
statesman to have. Since you are so chicken- 
hearted, I'll shoulder all the blame and the guilt. 

Allen : But I would be morally responsible neverthe- 
less. Hire an informer to swear his life away, and 
then you alone will be responsible. 

Radley : As I have said, he is a personal friend of 
Lord Thomas, who will order his release if he hears 
that he is locked up. I want to have him put out 
of the way as soon as possible. We can easily 
get up an excuse to satisfy Lord Thomas — if he 
is still at liberty then himself. You know what I 
mean. 

Allen : Yes, yes. If things go our way in London 
it will not be long before he, too, finds himself in a 
dungeon in the Tower. But can you not hit upon 
another way of carrying out your plan in regard to 
this Hibernian Hebe? 

Radley : There is absolutely no other way than to get 
rid of her husband without delay. I am really 
astonished at your hesitation. In view of our 
intimate relations of late, I had fully counted upon 
your friendly aid. 

Allen : It is my friendship for you, as well as my 
respect for human life, that makes me so reluctant 
to accede to your request. Let me earnestly advise 
you to desist from this evil purpose of yours — to 
curb your reckless passion — before it is too late. 
Reflect upon the folly, the peril — 

Radley : It is no use to talk to me like that. The cup 



42 SILKEN THOMAS 

that holds the blissful draught lies within my reach, 
and I am determined to drink it, no matter what 
may be the consequences to myself. 

Allen : I am sorry to hear you say that. Since, how- 
ever, you are fully resolved upon taking this course, 
I shall give you the order you require — on one con- 
dition ; and that is, that you give this unfortunate 
man a chance to save his life; that you try hard 
to devise a less desperate plan to gain your end. 

Radley: I shall gladly comply with that condition. An 
idea has just occurred to me — a scheme which, I 
think, will succeed. But I want to be armed with 
that order to the Governor of Newgate in case it 
should fail. 

Allen : You shall have it ; but I sincerely hope you 
will not use it. 

(Allen starts to go off, but turns around) 
Have you seen Skeffington or Butler of late? 

Radley : Yes ; both of them. 

Allen : Have they received any news from London ? 

Radley : They have been furnished with some infor- 
mation that I have received, but from another 
source. 

Allen: Then the Earl of Kildare is really imprisoned 
in the Tower? 

Radley : Yes ; and his death sentence, I have further 
heard, is expected to be pronounced in a day or two. 

Allen : Good ! Then Skeffington will soon be restored 
to the position of Lord Deputy. 

Radley : He will ; and he is very anxious to hold that 
office again. Butler is highly pleased at the pros- 
pect; for, although he is a nephew of Lord Kildare, 



SILKEN THOMAS 43 

he remembers that Kildare was his father's bit- 
terest foe. 

Allen : It will do my heart good when this proud and 
haughty Earl of Kildare has been laid low. But 
I tell you frankly I don't feel very sanguine as to 
the success of our plot against him. 

Radley: You have been pessimistic all along. 

Allen : How can I help it when I know that for years 
the Earl of Kildare has enjoyed the friendship of 
the King and the good opinion of his majesty's coun- 
cillors, in spite of his traitorous truckling to the 
native chieftains, to two of whom — O'Connor and 
O' Car roll — his two daughters are married with his 
full consent — nay, with his open encouragement. 

Radley : But the King has been made aware of all the 
facts. Besides, his majesty, I have been told on 
good authority, not satisfied with being "Lord" of 
this country, wishes to acquire a loftier title; and 
when next parliament meets in Dublin City it will 
proclaim him King of Ireland. Such a change, you 
know as well as I do, Kildare would have vigor- 
ously opposed; and the King has been informed, 
they say, that the reason he would oppose it is this, 
that he has long desired to make himself King of 
Ireland — which is not true. 

Allen : That must have touched the King in a raw 
spot. 

Radley : How could it do otherwise ? 

Allen: I feel more confident now than before. Had 
you not better come along with me? 

Radley: No. It is better that we should not appear 
to be on very friendly terms with each other. When 



44 SILKEN THOMAS 

men enter into a great conspiracy they should be 
careful to shun alert Suspicion's furtive glance. 
Ai^en: (going off) You are right. You are an ideal 

conspirator. 
Radi^y: "Old Reprobate" that rebel chief called 
me ! Old ? Do I indeed look old ? Ha ! Let me see. 
[He produces a pocket mirror, and scans his 
reflected features eagerly, turning his face from 
right to left, and vice versa. Then he holds the 
mirror at arm's length and soliloquizes] : 
That Irish rascal spoke the truth — the simple, 
bitter truth. How is it that I have not noticed it 
before? Is it because nobody has had the — bad 
taste — the audacity — the impudence — to tell me that 
I look as if were — growing old. (He looks into 
the mirror again, smiles at himself -first, and then 
frozvns). I see it now. Whenever I have looked 
at myself in a mirror I have smiled, by force of 
habit; and thus those accursed wrinkles and other 
facial deformities caused by relentless Time have 
escaped my notice. (Looks at himself again) Why, 
the very wrinkles which are caused by our smiles 
serve to emphasize our frowns ! When did age be- 
gin to tell upon me — upon my face, I mean, for I 
am as young in heart and feeling now as I was 
twenty-five years ago? (He returns the mirror 
abruptly to his pocket with a frown) It's too late 
now to inquire into that. The sad fact remains : I 
am getting old. And youthful beauty, of which I 
am so ardent an admirer, seldom accords its favors 
to the middle-aged, and never to the old, without 
being influenced by the possession of wealth by the 
recipient. (He starts as he gases at some distant 



SILKEN THOMAS 45 

object). That looks like a messenger with Lord 
Thomas's order for the lease of O'Byrne. If he 
is, gold may buy the message he is carrying, as it 
has often bought such things before. 

[Exit] 
[Enter Musicians.] 

Barney (the Fiddler) : What a grand place this estate 
of Maynooth is ! 

Jerry (the Bagpiper) : And it's a grand man that 
owns it, too. 

Mike (the Harpist) : Faith, it's true for you. And 
the Earl of Kildare, when he is called to his reward 
in the next world, will have a worthy successor in 
Lord Thomas, by all accounts. Just think of a boy 
like that being Lord Deputy — holding the most 
powerful position in the land. 

Jerry: He's well able to fill the position, they say. So 
it appears that the Earl of Kildare knew what he 
was doing when he put Lord Thomas in his place 
before he went to London. 

Barney: Didn't Lord Thomas enjoy our playing at the 
O'Byrne wedding? 

Jerry: He did indeed. That's why he sent for us to- 
day, no doubt. And we may be sure that he'll treat 
us well. 

Mike : I hear that Shawn O'Dwyer is going to marry 
Bessy O'Toole. He's a lucky gorsoon. Bessy's father 
will give him that fine farm near the woods with 
her. 

Jerry : That fine farm near the woods ! That's not a 
fine farm at all. It's a wilderness on a little 



46 SIEKEN THOMAS 

scale. Why, you couldn't raise enough on it to 
feed a goat. If a rabbit wanted to spend half a 
day there he'd have to take his lunch with him. 

Barney : It's a very poor bit of ground, but with per- 
severance and time, — 

Jerry: With perseverance and time an Irish snail 
would reach Jerusalem. Did you hear what hap- 
pened to Old Flint-Heart, the Sassenah landlord, 
after he died? 

Barney : No. 

Jerry: He had the brazen impudence to knock at the 
gate of Heaven. St. Peter recognized him, but 
would not condescend to talk to him ; so he sent one 
of his clerks to the gate to ask Old Flint-Heart what 
he wanted there. He answered that he wanted to 
get into Heaven. St. Peter said : "Ask him if he 
ever did a good deed in his life." The clerk obeyed. 
Old Flint-Heart could remember only one good 
deed that he had done. He bought a basket of 
apples from a poor farmer's son; and as the boy 
had no money in his pocket he couldn't give him 
his change, which was only a very small "sum. 
"Keep it," said Old Flint-Heart. "And that's the 
only good deed he has to his credit during his long 
life on earth?" said St. Peter, with indignation. 
"Ask him how much the change was ; give it back 
to him; and let him go to — Purgatory." 

Barney: That reminds me of what I heard about old 
Shawn Duffy and Father McGrah. Shawn got very 
sick; his condition became so bad that they sent for 
the priest to give him the last Sacraments. He was 
never any good, the same Shawn. When he was 
hard up he would steal the pennies off a dead man's 



SILKEN THOMAS 47 

eyes or the cross from an ass's back, if he could. 
Well, after he received the Sacraments he said to 
Father McGrah: "Father, I wish you had the key 
of Heaven with you." "Why?" asked the priest. 
"So that you could let me in," said Shawn. 
"Faith," said Father McGrah, "it might be better 
for you if I had the key of the other place." "How 
is that, Father?" asked Shawn. The priest said to 
him quietly : "So that I could let you out." 

[They play] 

Jerry : Sing us a song, Barney, for a change. 
Mike: Yes, do, Barney. 

[Barney sings] : 

For pretty girls, as true as they are charming, 

The Emerald Isle has always been renowned. 
None fairer, purer, or more tender-hearted, 

In all the world can e'er be found. 
But there is one who to my heart is dearest, 

Who more than all the rest of them I prize : 
She whom it is my fondest hope to marry, 

Linking my life to hers for evermore, 
Making our home an earthly paradise, 

The colleen with the laughing eyes. 

Her glossy hair is darker than the raven, 

Her neck and arms are whiter than the swan; 
Her sweet, moist lips are crimson like ripe cherries ; 

She walks as graceful as a fawn. 
But — best of all — her goodness far surpasses 

Her beauty, as the sun, in mid-day skies, 
Outclasses, in its everlasting radiance, 

The stars that every night above us rise, 
Oh, I am longing to my breast to clasp her, 

My colleen with the laughing eves. 



48 SIEKEN THOMAS 

Scene; II. — In Newgate Jail. Door in center. When 
this door is opened, the iron bars of a dungeon are 
disclosed, O'Byrne behind them. Governor Taunton 
of the Jail is slowing pacing to and fro, his head 
bowed in meditation. 

[Enter Lord Radeey] 

RadlEy: Has any letter or message been delivered 

here for O'Byrne, the rebel Chief? 
Taunton: No, Lord Radeey. But I have received 

from the council an order to have him beheaded. 
Radeey: I have just had a conference with the Lord 

Deputy about the unfortunate man; and I want to 

talk to him in private. Will you please unlock this 

door, and retire for a few minutes? 
Taunton : Certainly, Lord Radeey. 

[Taunton unlocks the door in the center, dis- 
closing the iron-barred door of a dungeon. O'Byrne 
is seen behind the iron-barred door.] 

[Exit Taunton, saying, aside:] 

There's something about Lord RadeEy that I 
don't like. He seems to be gloating over this pris- 
oner's awful doom. What is his reason, I wonder? 

Radeey: (to O'Byrne) You know that you have been 
condemned to die, and have only a few hours to 
live? 

O'Byrne: The Governor of the Jail has so informed 
me. When I asked him what is the crime that I 
am charged with, he said "high treason." That is 
a ridiculous charge. When Lord Thomas hears 

about it 

i 

Radeey : He knows all about it now. 



SILKEN THOMAS 49 

O'Byrne: Why, his father and I are friends. 

Radley: Were friends, you should say. Lord Thomas 
is even more scrupulously loyal to King- Henry than 
his father is, and he loathes the very name of 
treason. (Taunton peeps in at one side of the 
stage and listens). As I have said, you have but a 
few hours more of life. You surely realize that 
there is absolutely no hope for you. The decree has 
been issued by the Council of State, and ratified by 
Lord Thomas. The headsman is already preparing 
to exercise the sentence. (O'Byrne groans). But 
it happens to be in my power, as your accuser 

O'Byrne : My false accuser ! 

Radley: To save your life — ay, and to set you free. 
All you have to do is to listen to the proposition I 
am going to make. It is this. If, when I bring 
your bride, Moira, here, you will tell her that you 
give up all claim to her and bid her place herself 
under my protection. — 

O'Byrne : Stop, you ruffianly Sassenah ! You must 
be a devil in human shape ; otherwise you could not 
come to me at such an hour with such a request. 
Oh for a moment of freedom ! If I had I would 
pluck that vile, black heart from your breast and 
throw it to the dogs ! Good Heaven ! Could there 
be a bitterer death than this? 

Radley: Death! But you can easily avoid it. If you 
do not take this opportunity to save your life and 
regain your freedom, you are a fool and a suicide 
as well. 

O'Byrne: You cursed, hell-bent scoundrel, go away! 
(Turning his back to Radley) I'll listen to you no 
longer. 



50 SILKEN THOMAS 

RadlEy: Fret, and fume, and rage as you will, Moira 
will be mine. She is in my house now — not as a 
captive, mark you, but as a willing guest. 

O'ByrnE: (quickly turning his face to Radley) It is 
as false as hell ! 

RadlEy : This bravado will leave you after I go, and 
you will be very sorry that you did not accept my 
offer. But it will be too late. Die, you Keltic rebel, 
die ! 

O'Byrne: (shaking his fist at Radley) Death! Yes, 
a thousand deaths before Moira's honor or my 
manhood should be stained by such a diabolical 
bargain. 

[Enter from the side of the stage opposite to 
that from which Taunton is peeping and listening, 
Gerard, a jailer in the secret pay of RadeEy, who 
motions to him not to speak.] 

Taunton: (aside) What! Gerard here? He should 
be at his post elsewhere. Is he, too, in this hellish 
plot ? 

Radley: (to Gerard) Close this door. 

[Gerard closes it] 

Radley: (speaking to Gerard) That pretty wench 
should soon be here, with the letter that she has 
obtained from the Lord Deputy ordering Taunton 
to liberate O'ByrnE. What his youthful excellency 
will think or say when he finds out that his previous 
order to Taunton was not delivered, I do not 
know. He will doubtless be very angry. Now, 
don't forget what I told you. Open this door now 
and call O'Byrne to the bars. Tell him that you 
are a special messenger from the Lord Deputy, 



SILKEN THOMAS 51 

who offers him his freedom on the condition to 
which his wife has agreed in order to secure his 
immediate liberation. The condition is that, since 
the Lord Deputy has resolved to give the whole 
country a just government, O'Byrne must pledge 
his word of honor that he will not join in any upris- 
ing against it, so long as it continues to be fair to 
all the people. Assure him that his wife is anxious 
that he should accept the proposal; then close the 
door. He is sure to accept it. When his wife 
comes — you must hurry up, for she may be here at 
any moment — she will have a letter which she has 
received from Lord Thomas, whom she has visited 
in reference to her husband's imprisonment. It will 
be addressed to Taunton. 

Gerard: I hope she won't come before I talk to him. 
I'll have to be quick about this business; for I must 
hasten back to my post. If the Governor finds that 
I am absent from my post he will want to know the 
reason. He may dismiss me on the spot; for he 
has a quick temper. 

Radley: Don't worry over that. I shall take care of 
you. Well, take the letter from her, and assure her 
that you will at once give it to the Governor. You, 
of course, are to appear not to know who she is. 
Then tell her, as a simple matter of Jail gossip, that 
an Irish Chieftain named The O'Byrne is to be 
released tomorrow, having agreed, as the condition 
of regaining his freedom, to hand over his wife to 
an English nobleman who is in love with her. 

Gerard: Yes, yes. I have got off by heart the words 
you wrote for me to say. She will refuse to believe 
what I tell her. Then I'll call O'Byrne to the bars, 



52 SILKEN THOMAS 

and in her hearing ask him: "Do you accept that 
condition about your getting released? Your wife 
wants you to accept it. She is here." He will, of 
course, say that he accepts it. After that I am to 
close the door immediately, so as not to give them 
a chance to talk to each other. 
Radley : Exactly. You will play your part perfectly. 
Now I shall go to Governor Taunton and keep 
him in conversation until you have had time to carry 
out the scheme. 

[Exit RadeEY on the side opposite to that 
where Taunton is listening] 

Taunton: {aside) He will not be able to find me. 
I'll stay here and see this devilish plot carried out 
so far that it will become necessary for me to inter- 
fere. Then I'll place these two villains in cells and 
keep them there until I communicate with the Lord 
Deputy. 

[Gerard opens the door, calls O'Byrne, and 
zvhispers to him for a few minutes.] 

O'Byrne: {in an audible tone.) I accept the condition. 

[Enter Moira with a letter in her hand] 

Moira: {breathlessly to Gerard) This is a letter from 
the L,ord Deputy to Governor Taunton. Place it 
in his hands, please, without delay. 

Gerard: {bowing) There will be no delay. And as 
he is likely to be busy now, you may have to wait a 
little while for his reply. There is a parlor here 
in which you can be seated. 

[Exeunt Gerard and Moira. In a minute they 
return*] 



SILKEN THOMAS 53 

Moira: (Excitedly to Gerard) Insult me not, I warn 

you! If you dare 

Gerard: Heaven forbid that I should insult a fair and 

noble lady like you ! Stand there a minute. 

[He leads her to a part of the stage same dis- 
tance from the outer door of O'Byrne's cell.] 
Then he opens the door and calls the prisoner to 
the bars. 

(To O'Byrne) : Do you agree to the condition named? 
Your wife is present. She may like to hear from 
your own lips your answer. Speak out clearly. 

O'Byrne : Yes ; I accept it. 

[Gerard hastily closes the door.] 
Gerard: You have heard his words? 
Moira (pressing her hands to her eyes) : 

O kindly Heaven ! have pity on me now. 

But have I really heard those words aright? 

Alas, I have. It surely was his voice. 

[throwing up her hands.] 

O God ! that I should ever live to hear 

That awful proposition from the man 

To whom I gave my hand and heart. O Heaven ! 

Gerard: He told me to tell you that, as he would be 
willing to give his life to save yours, you ought to 
make the same sacrifice to save his. The headsman 
is already here. Your husband's life depends on 
your decision. 

Moira : Then it is true. Oh, horror, it is true ! 

[she pauses] 
To save my life he freely would give his ; 



54 SIIyKEN THOMAS 

And should I pause to make the sacrifice 
He bids me make to save his life? Shall I 
Less generous, less self-sacrificing, be 
For his sake than he surely would for me? 
But would it be a fair exchange? His life 
Bartered against — I shudder at the thought 
Of what such bargain would entail to me. 

[Enter Taunton and Radi/By] 

The degradation of my womanhood, 
The forfeit of my honor — dearer far 
To me than life itself. It shall not be; 
My honor as a woman and a wife 
To me is far more precious than the life 
And liberty of him who won my heart. 

[Taunton walks to where Gerard is standing; 
places himself beside him, and eyes him angrily.'] 

Radusy {to Taunton) : This woman is a lunatic. I 
know her well. Her late hallucination, under which 
she is now laboring, is that she is married, and that 
her husband is the rebel Chief O'Byrne. 

Moira : 

This is a fiendish lie ! Ha ! I recognize you now. 
It is you who tried to abduct me. 

[To Taunton] 

Tell me, sir, his name. 

RadlBy : Heed not her ravings. Place her in a room 
whence she can not escape. Tonight I'll come for 
her, and safely reconduct her to her home. 

Taunton : Lady, you are the victim of a plot as vile 
as was ever concocted by the basest scoundrel that 
ever walked the earth. Your husband is as faithful, 



SILKEN THOMAS 55 

true, and loving as he ever was. He has rejected 
with scorn the condition these two cunning scoun- 
drels would make you believe he has accepted. I 
have foiled their plot. 
Moira : Thank Heaven for that ! Oh, let me speak to 
him. 

[Enter Silken Thomas, with four body- 
guards and Monsignor.] 
Moira (To Silken Thomas) : 

My husband still is here. 
Silken Thomas: 

Ha ! Treachery ! 

[To Taunton] 

Upon whose order is he here confined? 

Taunton : Upon Lord Radley's. 
Silken Thomas (drawing his szvord) : RadlEy! Is 
he here? 

[RadlEy averts his face and walks stealthily 
towards the door. Monsignor converses inaudibly 
with Moira.] 

Silken Thomas (excitedly to Taunton) : 

What does this mean ? My orders set at naught ! 
Twice have I Avritten you, with my own hand, 
Commands to liberate the Chief O'Byrne. 

Taunton : They did not reach me, my Lord, I swear 
to you. 

Moira, (pointing to RadlEy, who is crouching near the 
door, at ivhich two body-guards of Silken Thomas are 
standing) : 

There stands the ruffian who insulted me, 

And with his minions brought my husband here 



56 SILKEN THOMAS 

And even now gave orders to this man 
[Pointing to Taunton] 

To lock me in a cell until tonight, 

When he would come and bear me to his home. 
O'Donnell (To Moira) : 

Are you quite sure 'tis he? 
Moira : 

How could I eir 

In such a case as this? 
Monsignor (To Taunton) : 

Have you not heard 

What the Lord Deputy has said to you? 

Give The: O'Byrne his liberty at once. 

[Taunton opens the outer door and proceeds 
to open the inner, iron-barred one; Monsignor 
converses with Moira.] 

O'Donnell (drawing his sword and addressing 
Silken Thomas) : 

Pray, pardon me, my lord. 
Soil not your sword with his base, hag-bred blood. 
Let me dispatch him. To my sister he 
Offered the worst of insults. 
Silken Ti-iomas (drawing back a little) : 

Let him die 
The death he merits. Headsman, ax and block 
Shall be his portion — 
[To jailer j zuho has the key to the iron-barred door] 

Quick; release O'Byrne, 
And let this bawdy miscreant take his place 
Until the headsman comes. 
Taunton : 

The headsman's here. 



SILKEN THOMAS 57 

Lord RadlEy had him summoned for this man. 

[Opens the cell door, through which O'Byrne 

steps forth, and, seeing Moira, embraces her.] 
Silken Thomas: 

It was his own beheading he arranged. 

And let him die at once. You hear? At once! 
Monsignor (To Silken Thomas) : 

Accord this wretched sinner ample time 

For penitence and the Sacraments, my lord. 
Silken Thomas: 

Such timely mercy he does not deserve; 

But he shall have it. Taunton, see to this. 

[Taunton and O'Donnell seise RadlEy, and 
push him into the cell. Taunton locks the doors.] 

[Exit Taunton] 

O'Byrne (To Silken Thomas) : 

Accept my gratitude. — 
Silken Thomas: 

Nay, thank me not. 

It was my simple duty to prevent 

The shedding of a guiltless brother's blood ; 

For brothers we are now in patriotism. 

[Shakes O'Byrne' s Hand] 

O'Byrne: Ay! And the brotherhood of patriotism is 
higher and holier than the brotherhood of blood. 

Silken Thomas: You had better go and breathe the 
pure air and otherwise refresh yourself. You need 
it after your horrible experience here. 

[Exeunt O'Byrne, O'Donnell and Moira, 
bozving and smiling to Silken Thomas.] 

[End oe Act II.] 



58 SILKEN THOMAS 



ACT III. 

Scene I. — Chamber of the Council of State, St. Mary's 
Abbey, Dublin. A long table in the center with 
books and manuscripts upon it, and chairs arranged 
at each side, with a larger one at the head, for the 
President. Silken Thomas alone is slowly walk- 
ing up and down, his head bowed and his hand 
pressed to his forehead, apparently absorbed in 
serious thought. 

[Enter Monsignor.] 

Monsignor : 

Thou lookest ill, my lord, or else thou art 

Immersed in deep and solemn meditation. 
Silken Thomas: 

So many rumors of my father's death 

Have reached my ears that I begin to fear 

They may be based on truth. 
Monsignor: 

What do they say? 
Silken Thomas: 

That my dear father has been put to death 

By order of the King. 
Monsignor : 

Whence comes the news? 
Silken Thomas: 

From various sources. 
Monsignor : 

All authentic? 
Silken Thomas: 

No. 



silken thomas 59 

Monsignor : 

Such vague and unconfirmed intelligence 
Deserves but scanty credence. Evil news 
Spreads faster much than good. Why dost thou not 
Send o'er to London some one thou can'st trust 
To ascertain the truth? 

Silken Thomas: 

That I have done — 
One of my most intelligent body-guards, 
Upon whose tact and prudence I rely. 
And, with impatience 'waiting his return, 
My anxious soul with dark presentiments 
Is much perturbed. Besides, my omens say 
That I shall never more my father see. 

Monsignor : 

Omens and augurs should receive no heed 

From cultured minds like thine. The cares of state 

Depress thy youthful spirits. Thou shouldst take 

Some wholesome recreation that befits 

Thy years and station and thy present needs. 

Be not discomforted by gloomy news, 

Or darkened outlook. Standing as thou dost 

Upon the threshold of a manhood bright, 

Confront the future with unflinching gaze, 

And optimistic heart; and bear in mind: 

We all must take the bitter with the sweet, 

The showers with the sunshine, in this world. 

There are no shadows where there is no light — 

Nay, is not Life's fair landscape made complete 

By these same shadows? Never give up hope, 

Though even Heaven itself should seem to frown. 

Silken Thomas: 

The toils of state are irksome, it is true; 



60 SILKEN THOMAS 

And fain would I exchange them, if I could, 
For more congenial tasks; but duty calls, 
And I must execute her stern behests, 
Whatever be the cost. 

[Draws and brandishes his sword] 

Oh, how I yearn 
To lead a charge upon the battlefield! 
To rush with fury on a hated foe ! 

Monsignor : 

But they who love the sword shall meet their death 
By its keen thrust. 

Silken Thomas : 

What matters it, my friend, 
If battling for a righteous cause they die? 

[Draws nearer to Monsignor] 
Should foreign hordes our native land invade, 
And threatened Liberty for help appeal, 
Wouldst thou advise us meekly to submit, 
Like sapless cowards, to a tyrant's yoke, 
And preach the sacredness of might enthroned, 
And the enormous crime of armed revolt? 

Monsignor {Solemnly) : 

Life here below is not the highest good, 
To battle for the right is meritorious ; 
Among the virtues patriotism stands high. 

Silken Thomas : 

For this concession, guarded though it be, 
To that pure patriotism which hazards all 
For Freedom's holy cause, I thank thee, friend. 

[Sheathes his sword] 

[Enter one of Silken Thomas' body-guards, 
wearing a troubled look.] 



SILKEN THOMAS 6l 

Silken Thomas {eagerly and quickly) : Back from 
London ? Good ! What news do you bring me 
about my father? 

Bodyguard: Be calm, my lord. I have been seeking 
you for hours, and just heard that you were here. 

Silken Thomas (excitedly) : Speak out. I am no 
woman. I can hear the worst without a falter. 

Bodyguard: When your father landed in London he 
was at once taken to the Tower by a military escort 
(He Pauses). 

Silken Thomas : I can read in your troubled counte- 
nance the ghastly message you forbear to deliver 
to me suddenly. I appreciate your kindly considera- 
tion of my feelings. My father lives no more ! 

Bodyguard : You have surmised the awful truth. 

Silken Thomas : He has been murdered by the King's 
command ! 

Monsignor (to Bodyguard): Is that true? 

Bodyguard : Alas, it is only too true. 

Monsignor (gazing upward) : 

Eternal rest, and light, and peace be his ! 

[To Silken Thomas] 

Accept my sympathy ; and bear this blow 
With Christian fortitude, as doth become 
A Christian soldier, as thou art. 
Bodyguard: A titled English spy, who has lately been 
conspiring with the foes that your father had among 
his councillors, has been sending the King false 
reports about him. Here is one of his concoctions 
which, having been mislaid, came into my posses- 
sion by mere chance. 

[Hands a parchment to Silken Thomas.] 



62 SILKEN THOMAS 

Silken Thomas (reading) : 

"Our plot has been strengthened in an important 
particular. I have forwarded to his Majesty docu- 
. ments purporting to prove that Kildare has been 
for years engaged in the treasonable attempt to 
substitute his own for the King's authority in this 
dominion, and to induce the members of Parliament 
to agree to proclaim him King of Ireland at their 
next session. This ought to rouse his Majesty 
from his too prolonged attitude of benevolent hesi- 
tation, and to lead him to decree the immediate 
death of Kildare. Take special pains to ascertain 
what his Majesty's decision is; and, having care- 
fully informed yourself upon this point, lose no time 
in letting me know what it is." "RadeEy" 

Radley ! The miscreant I've condemned to die ! 
That lecherous minion of a murderous King, 
Is, then, the real slayer of my father, 
His cowardly weapon the informer's lie; 
If I could make him die a hundred deaths, 
Justice would not be fully satisfied. 

[He pauses and paces up and down. Then, 
with a sudden start:] 
Why this affliction do I calmly bear? 
What stills the 'vengeful voice of injured blood, 
That should be clamoring now? What frigid spell 
Benumbs the impulse that should fire my breast? 

[Raises both hands and looks up to Heaven] 
Oh for thy direst thunders, Heaven! to smite 
The monarch guilty of this bloody deed, 
And devastate the kingdom where he rules ! 
[Fie pauses] 



silken thomas 63 

Monsignor : 

The noblest way to wreak condign revenge 
Is to forgive. 
Silken Thomas (drily) : 

A vengeance so sublime 
Might well beseem a saint, but not a soldier. 

[A slight pause] 
My father slain by order of the King ! — 
[Enter De La Hide] 
De La Hide : * 

And thou, thine uncles, and that angel-boy, 
Thine only brother, to that cruel fate 
Have likewise been condemned, I have just learned. 
[Monsignor and the Bodyguard speak in 
zvhispers to each other.] 
Recall to memory what thy father said 
Ere on his fatal voyage he embarked ; 
And by the counsel of his trusted friends 
In thy next move be guided. Give us time 
For due reflection on this crisis grave 
That now confronts our country. Rest assured, 
In all emergencies which may arise, 
That on my friendly aid thou canst rely 
With fullest confidence. 
Silken Thomas: 

I needed not 
This opportune assurance. Thou, Sir James, 
Hast always been my father's dearest friend 
And truest counsellor. 
De La Hide : 

Now to his son, 
The pride and treasure of his noble heart, 
That friendship I transfer. 



64 silken thomas 

Silken Thomas: 

And now, my friends, 

With my great grief I would be left alone. 
Monsignor (going off ivith Bodycuard and 
De La Hide) : 

Our heartfelt sympathy and condolence ! 

'Tis natural thou wouldst be now alone. 

And thy desire, my lord, we shall respect. 

God grant thee fortitude in this dark hour ! 
[Exeunt] 

Silken Thomas (after a pause, with animation and 
drazving his sword) : 

The murder of a father to avenge, 

The lives of menaced kindred to protect, 

A motherland from tyranny to free! 

A threefold mission this that should command 

The fervid service of a knightly heart ; 

A triple cause that should transform a coward 

Into a hero, and give feeble age 

The dash and strength of full-developed youth. 

[Bows his head in evident anguish. Then, as if 
he has resolved upon a course of action, he raises 
his head suddenly, and walks swiftly out.] 

[Enter Lord Chancellor Cromer, with his 
wig and his ermine on.] 

Lord Chancellor : H'm ! I am again the first to ar- 
rive, notwithstanding all that I have been saying to 
my brother councillors about the advisableness as 
well as the docorum of punctuality. 
[Enter a Councillor.] 

Councillor (thinking himself alone) : Who talks of 
punctuality now, I would like to know? 



SILKEN THOMAS 65 

Cromer: I have just been saying something to myself 
about it. 

Councillor: Oh, I beg your pardon! I had not seen 
you when I came in, but thought that I was the 
first arrival. I hope we won't be kept here long 
today, as I want to go hunting. This is fine weather 
for it, and game, I am told, is plentiful. 

Cromer : The length of our proceedings will, of course, 
depend upon their importance. 

Councillor: I wish they always did. 

Cromer : They always do. 

Councillor: They never do. They are invariably too 
long. 

Cromer: Pardon me. You are mistaken. 

Councillor: I am not. There is too much rhetoric 
indulged in and too little practical business trans- 
acted at our meetings, as a rule; and I, for one, 
am determined to stand it no longer. I intend to 
bring the matter up when there is a full meeting. 

Cromer: You are casting a reflection upon me 

[Enter another Councillor] 

First Councillor: I certainly am, and you deserve 
it for your long-windedness. 

Second Councillor : Come now, my friends ; let's 
have no squabbling. Always trv to compromise, 
and you'll make things easier for yourself and 
others. 

Cromer: He says we take up too much time by our 
deliberations at this council board ; that I am largely 
to blame for it. I feel sure 

First Councillor: He knows that I am right. 

Second Councillor: You both take opposite views of 
the subject, I see. It is therefore a case for com- 



66 SILKEN THOMAS 

promise. Let us postpone the discussion of it until 
some other time, so that we may be able to approach 
the consideration of it in a calmer and a more 
conciliatory spirit. 

[Enter Sir James De La Hide and several 
other Councillors, followed by Allen, Secretary 
of the Council, zvith a bundle of manuscripts under 
his arm. All sit at the table, Allen's seat being 
next to that of Cromer, the Lord Chancellor.] 

Cromer {reading a small manuscript after talking pri- 
vately zvith Allen) : Since we met together here 
before, several important things have happened. 
The cause of law and order has made great 
progress ; the mutterings of discontent and disloyalty 
are seldom heard ; and a wave of loyalty to our 
illustrious King is sweeping over the land. 

De La Hide: That is not true. 

Cromer: Do not interrupt me while I am making a 
speech. 

De La Hide : You are not making a speech ; you are 
reading a prepared address. If you had made those 
assertions while you were being carried away by an 
oratorical torrent, I might feel inclined to overlook 
your prevarications. But since you have written 
them with cold deliberation in your private cham- 
bers, I must in the name of truth protest against 
them. 

Cromer {reading) : In addition to these gratifying 
circumstances, I am glad to be in a position to say 
that 

De La Hide : I insist upon your withdrawing the false- 
hoods that you have uttered 



SILKEN THOMAS 67 

Cromer : Falsehoods ! Dare you to accuse me of hav- 
ing uttered falsehoods? 

De La Hide : I do. And you know they are falsehoods. 
[Several Councillors speak lowly to each 
other with gestures of excitement.] 

Second Councillor: This is eminently a discussion 
where a compromise is in order. I respectfully sug- 
gest that you, my Lord Chancellor,, re-state in a 
modified form what you have said, and that you, 
Sir James De La Hide, do likewise. 

A Councillor (solemnly) : Let us not forget who we 
are and what we are : the members of this exalted 
body — this Supreme Council of State — appointed 
by his most gracious majesty the King. We should 
uphold the dignity of the noble lord who is the 
President of this Council. Let him continue his 
important and interesting speech, and I appeal to 
all present not to allow him to be interrupted again. 

Another Councillor: Why, you are jeopardizing the 
chance of a compromise being agreed to. 

Cromer: Well, in order to expedite matters and to 
promote harmony, I accept the suggestion of a 
compromise. 

A Councillor (solemnly) : No; no. I object to your 
making that concession to disloyalty. 

De La Hide: Withdraw that insinuation and apologize 
for it. 

Several Councillors : Withdraw ! Withdraw ! 

A Councillor: I will not withdraw it. 

Cromer: I must rule against you. You will have to 
withdraw it. 

A Councillor (pulling a sheet of manuscript from his 
pocket and reading it) : "Baffled in my conscienti- 



68 SILKEN THOMAS 

cms efforts to promote a policy which, I feel assured, 
would, if adopted, have the effect of tranquilizing 
the masses of the rebellious natives of this dis- 
tracted country, I resign my membership in this 
council." 

De La Hide: You brought that written statement in 
your pocket. It has nothing to do with what we 
were discussing. You prepared it for use in some 
eventuality which has not yet occurred. 

A Councillor {muddled and angry) : How do you 
know? (Rising) 

Cromer: I hope we shall continue to have the benefit 
of your wisdom and counsel. 

De La Hide : His what ? 

A Councillor: My decision to resign is unalterable. 

Cromer: I am sorry. 

[Exit, hastily, Councillor.] 

Cromer: Let us proceed quietly. (Lays down his 
manuscript) 

De La Hide : I desire to say that it would be a mistake 
to regard the seeming quietude that prevails in this 
country for contentment. When a sensitive, quick- 
witted, and deservedly renowned people are smart- 
ing from grievances, what looks like serenity may be 
the sullen brooding that preludes a fierce revolt. 

One oE the Councillors: But our people have no 
cause for revolt. 

De La Hide: No cause! You must be jesting. Does 
long continuance justify a cruel wrong or lapse of 
many years condone a crime? 

Cromer: Peace reigns throughout the land. 

De La Hide: Apparent peace is oftentimes a state of 
war that has not yet been formally declared. 



SILKEN THOMAS 69 

One; oE the; Councillors : War ! Rebellion, you mean. 
If there are any more attempts at rebellion they will 
be promptly crushed. I am in favor of having large 
numbers of soldiers sent here from England with- 
out delay. A big army fills the people with fear, 
and fear is the best preservative of peace. 

De La Hide; : Justice is a much better preservative of 
peace than fear. 

Cromer: Before we take up routine business I consider 
it my duty to inform you officially of what you all 
have doubtless already heard unofficially — namely, 
the fact that the Earl of Kildare, the Lord Deputy, 
has been beheaded by order of the King's council. 

De; La Hide; : By order of the King. 

Cromer: The young man, Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, 
who has been temporarily acting as Lord Deputy 
during his father's absence in London, loses that 
position, of course, by the removal of the Earl. 
Since you, Sir JameIs De; La Hide;, are a confidential 
friend of Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, tell us how he 
acted when he received the news of his father's 
death. 

De; La Hide;: He had already learned the fatal news 
when I saw him last. 

Cromer : When you spoke of it, did he fume and rage 
and threaten vengeance on the King? 

De La Hide: No. His anguish found expression only 
in the silent eloquence of grief. His spirit drooped 
beneath the cruel blow; and as he desired to be left 
alone with his keen sorrow I came away. 

Cromer: Grief lingers not long with youth. 

De La Hide : It will with him ; for he is exceedingly 
sensitive. Have you received any news about Lord 



70 SILKEN THOMAS 

Thomas himself having incurred the displeasure of 

the King? 
Cromer: Unofficially I have. I am told the King is 

angry with the whole family. Lord Thomas sent 

us word that he would meet us here at this hour. 
De La Hide : Then he will soon be here. 
A Councillor : I am surprised at the fate that has 

befallen the Earl of Kildare ; for he was a great 

favorite with his Majesty for many years. 
Cromer: His Majesty must have had weighty reasons 

for sanctioning capital punishment in his case. 

De La Hide: Capital punishment! The murder of that 
great warrior-statesman cries aloud to Heaven for 
retribution. 

Cromer: It is not for us to sit in judgment upon our 
gracious King. I am afraid of some violent or 
seditious outbreak on the part of young Lord 
Thomas, who has an impulsive and fiery disposition. 

De La Hide: Who could justly blame him? 

Cromer: Would you palliate disloyalty, that odious 
crime ? 

De La Hide: Is disloyalty in a subject a more odious 
crime than that of a King who has murdered that 
subject's father? 

Cromer : You must not speak like that about the King, 
whose authority is sacred and supreme. 

De La Hide: Then you would extenuate the worst of 
crimes because the culprit wears a crown? The 
mightiest monarch that rules in Christendom may 
be less than the lowest of his subjects in the sight 
of the angels. 

Cromer: I am amazed to hear you talk like that. 



SILKEN THOMAS 7* 

De La Hide: Did Almighty God make one moral law 
for Kings and another for their subjects? Surely 
the Golden Rule of Christ is for all mankind. 

Cromer: We shall proceed to take up the usual busi- 
ness. (To Allen) Have you any communications 
for us? 

[Allen places several letters before Cromer.] 

De La Hide: Before we leave this tragic subject I 
suggest that we give formal expression to our regret 
at the death of the Earl of Kildare, whose sterling 
virtues and patriotic deeds have added a bright 
page to the history of his country, and who has 
bequeathed to his countrymen the fragrant memory 
of a noble life. 

Cromer : I do not think that we should take such a step 
as that. 

A Councillor: I am strongly opposed to it. 

Another Councillor: Let us compromise. Let us 
take up this question later. There is something to 
be said on both sides. 

Cromer: We shall consider it later. (After a brief 
whispered conversation zvith Allen). Reports 
which were received a few minutes before we came 
into this room show that the condition of the coun- 
try is not at all so satisfactory as I had been led 
to believe that it was. These reports are from 
trusty English spies. Johnson, for instance, who is 
making observations in the North, and who has been 
liberally supplied with money by us to bribe unsus- 
pecting members of the Clans, gives us a rather 
gloomy account of the outlook up there. He says: 

(Reading one of the dispatches) "I have secured the 
information that the followers of O'NEILL and 



*/2 SILKEN THOMAS 

O'Donnell have recently received new and large 
supplies of arms and ammunition, and have been 
ordered to be prepared to fight at short notice. 
There is something in the air that I cannot find out ; 
for these men know nothing of it themselves." 

A Councillor : That is serious news. 

Another Councillor: What can be the reason for 
the action of those two powerful northern chieftains ? 

Cromer : We must send some extra spies without delay 
to assist Johnson in making his investigations. 
Some grave event is impending. (Taking up an- 
other dispatch and glancing at the signature). Ah, 
this report is from Dalby. He is the cleverest 

De La Hide: Scoundrel we have. 

Cromer : Please do not interrupt me. He says : "Some- 
thing very serious is afoot. The clansmen meet in 
groups in different parts of this district, and hold 
debates in whispers. They place sentries at certain 
distances from them, so that no strangers may 
approach. I have some clues, however, on which 
I am working, and which, I feel confident, I will 
follow up with success. Please send me more 
money." 

De La Hide : That fellow is always asking for money. 

A Councillor: I have been told that he is a gambler. 

Cromer : He is one of the most reliable of our secret 
agents. 

De La Hide: Hired reformers, you mean. 

Cromer (continuing to read) : "There is a fine estate 
here adjoining mine. The present possessor is dis- 
loyal to the King. It is much more valuable than 
the one that has been confiscated to me. I want to 
take possession of it." — 



SILKEN THOMAS 73 

De La Hide: The covetous scoundrel — the thief. 

A Councillor: But all the estates in this country be- 
long to the King. 

De La Hide : They do not. They belong to their right- 
ful owners. 

Cromer: He covers that very point correctly himself. 
He goes on to say : "These native Irish have no 
right to own any properties in the realms of our 
gracious King. Kindly send me at once the requisite 
written authority to seize it." 

A Councillor: What audacity! What villainy! 

Cromer: Hush! That language is too strong. 

The same Councillor: Too strong! Could any 
words of denunciation be too strong for a man who 
wants to steal the property of another, and who 
desires to obtain from this council an official letter 
which would legalize his pillage? It is outrageous. 

De La Hide: He should be sent to jail for having in- 
sulted the members of the Council. 

[Several Councillors hold a brief whispered 
conversation, some nodding their heads in assent, 
and others quickly turning their heads from right 
to left as a sign of dissent. ,] 

Cromer: Some members of this honorable Council evi- 
dently forget that this country belongs to King 
Henry, and also that this estate is at present in the 
hands of one who is disloyal to his Majesty. 

De La Hide: This country belongs to the Irish people. 

Cromer: No, no. Pope Adrian IV gave it to King 
Henry II, in order that his Majesty 

De La Hide : It was not his to give. 

A Councillor: Certainly not. How could it be his? 



74 SILKEN THOMAS 

Cromer : Please do not interrupt me. The Pope, in a 
solemn Bull, gave Ireland to the English King in 
order that his Majesty, being the supreme master 
of it, might suppress the lawlessness and the vice 
which prevailed in it at the time. 

De La Hide: (hotly) : That is not true. 

A Councillor: Order! Order! Do not insult the 
Lord Chancellor. 

Another Councillor (To De La Hide) : Withdraw 
that offensive epithet. 

A Councillor: Truth is neither offensive nor insult- 
ing. 

De La Hide: That papal Bull was spurious. It was 
forged in England. 

Cromer: I am astonished to hear you say so. Your 
allegiance to the Sovereign Pontiff is very weak. 

De La Hide : It is stronger than yours, prelate though 
you are. 

Cromer : What shall we do about this letter of Dalby's? 
I suggest that we comply with his two requests — 
to send him more money to enable him to continue 
and to enlarge the scope of his loyal work; and 
to authorize him to annex that estate which he 
mentions. 

De La Hide: Most emphatically I protest against such 
a scandalous injustice. I know that the majority of 
my colleagues at this council board — several of them 
beneficiaries of the generosity and magnanimity of 
the great Earl of Kildare — are ready to approve of 
whatever you suggest. But 

[Enter Silken Thomas, hurriedly, with sev- 
eral of his followers, his helmet on, and holding the 
golds cabbarded sword of state in his two hands.] 



silken thomas 75 

Silken Thomas: 

Friends, Councillors, and worthy gentlemen, 
The evil news from London you have heard: 
My father to the headsman sent, because 
He loved his country better than his King. 
No longer will I keep this sword of state, 
The emblem now of slavery. Here and now, 
Like the allegiance I have borne the King, 
I cast it from me with contempt. 

[He flings the sword of state on the Council 
table. The Councillors rise, with murmurs of 
amazement.} 

Several Councillors: My lord! 
Silken Thomas {drawing his sword) : 

Against this foreign tyrant's bloody rule 

I am a rebel ! And I dedicate 

[Waving aloft his sword] 

My sword, my mind, my heart, my very life, 
To one supreme and all-engrossing purpose : 
To banish from my country every trace 
And vestige of the Sassenah invader ! 

[End oe Act III.] 



j6 SILKEN THOMAS 



ACT IV. 

Scene I. — Tent of Silken Thomas on a battlefield. 
Camp table and chair. Occasional rifle shots heard 
outside. 

[Enter Jerry the Bagpiper.] 
Jerry: I thought our brave young Commander-in- 
Chief was here in his tent. They told me he was. 
Maybe he'll be back soon. I'll wait awhile, any- 
how. I want to see him very particularly; for I've 
a great favor to ask of him; and he's such a fine, 
noble-souled young gentleman — a soldier, every inch 
of him, to his finger-tips — that I'm almost sure he 
won't have the heart to refuse. I'd far rather be 
fighting the enemy than be playing these bagpipes 
of mine, much as I like to play them. 

[Enter Mike the Fiddler.'] 

Mike: Why, it's JERRY with his bagpipes, as true as 
I'm alive. What the mischief brings you here, 
JERRY, may I ask ? 

JERRY: The same things that brought you here, Mike 
— a pair of shanks. 

MikE: Oh, I mean: what object had you in view in 
coming to the tent of the Commander-in-Chief? 

Jerry: Business of a private, personal and pressing 
nature. 

Mike : Faith ! that's what I'm here for myself. 

Jerry: But isn't it presumptious for you to call upon 
The Commander-in-Chief by yourself, without any- 
body to introduce you to his lordship? Have you a 
letter of introduction from your superior officer? 



SILKEN THOMAS • J7 

Mike;: No. Have you? 

Jerry: I haven't. 

Mike : Then why don't you practice what you preach ? 
What do you mean by asking me if I have one? 

Jerry : I think it's bad enough for me to come by my- 
self without you doing the same. Besides, to tell 
you the truth, Mike: I was afraid that if I did ask 
my superior officer for a letter of introduction to 
Lord Thomas, he'd want to know what I wished 
to see him for; and I feel certain that if I told him 
why, he wouldn't let me come here at all. So I'm 
taking French leave. 

Mike: Begorra! It's exactly the same with me. I'm 
running a risk, I know, in doing it. But the Lord 
Deputy, I know now, is a splendid character and 
is free and easy, with nothing stuck-up about him; 
and so I made up my mind to see him about it. 

Jerry : About what ? 

Mike: I don't mind telling you, Jerry; but you must 
promise me that you won't let anybody else know in 
case I don't get the permission I'm after. 

Jerry : You may depend upon me, Mike. I won't give 
your secret away. 

[Enter Barney the Harper,] 

Mike (confidentially) : It's to fight with the soldiers 
I want, instead of playing my bag-pipes to them. 

Jerry : Why, man alive ! that's just what I'm after, too. 
I'd rather fight than play, any time. But now that 
there's a grand opportunity to set our dear old 
motherland free for ever, I want to be in the thick 
of the closing fight. 

Barney: That's fine! boys; fine! I'm with you. I'm 
anxious to fight for Ireland's freedom too. 



78 SILKEN THOMAS 

Mike; : Our men have had the Sassenah on the run 
lately. The final victory is already in sight. 

JERRY : But I hear that the enemy are determined to 
win this coming battle. They've been getting a lot 
of reinforcements and provisions. 

[Enter Silken Thomas, Unnoticed.] 

Barney: That's all the better. It'll be a hard strug- 
gle — just what I'm aching for. I want to fight for 
Ireland's freedom — ay, and to die for it, too, if 
that's God will. 

Jerry and Mike: So do I. 

Sieken Thomas : Brave boys ! I am delighted to hear 
you say that. You express the spirit that should 
animate us today — and that does animate us all, I' 
believe. 

JERRY: Strange to say, my lord, we three have taken 
the liberty to come to beg the same favor at 
your hands. We didn't come here together, and we 
hadn't talked to one another about it. 

Silken Thomas : The same favor ! What is it, boys ? 

JERRY: We implore your permission, my lord, to fight 
with the soldiers, instead of playing our musical 
instruments. 

The Other Three : Yes, yes, Lord Thomas. Kindly 
allow us to take part in the fighting. 

Silken Thomas: But by playing your musical instru- 
ments you really take part in the battles. You risk 
your lives the same as the soldiers do; and your 
martial tunes not only keep up but intensify the 
courage and the fighting spirit of the troops. Your 
instruments are, in your hands, as effective weapons 
as are the blades and the muskets in the hands of 
the soldiers. 



SILKEN THOMAS 79 

MiKE: But we're convinced, my lord, that we could do 

more for Ireland with swords and guns than with 

our music. There are minstrels enough with the 

troops without us. Kindly grant us the favor we 

• humbly beg of your lordship. 

Silken Thomas : Yours is such as unusual request 

that I readily comply with it. 
The Three : Thank you, Lord Thomas ; thank you. 
[Exit Silken Thomas] 

Jerry : Before we part with our instruments let us play 

a few tunes. 
Barney: We've played enough with them already. 

We're soldiers now and not musicians. Let's stick 

to our new profession. 
Mike : You're right. We've got leave to change our 

instruments, and the sooner we take advantage of 

the permission the better. It will take us some 

time to get used to our new ones. 
Jerry: But, God save us from all harm! this may be 

the last time that we will have an opportunity to 

play together. One of us, two of us — ay, the whole 

three of us — may be killed. 
Barney : Or crippled. You're right, Jerry. This may 

be the last tune any of us will ever play. Say, 

boys, can you tell me how it is that the ladies of 

all civilized countries are so fond of Irishmen? 
JERRY: Because they — there are so many reasons that 

I can't hit on the principal one. Let me see. 

(reflects) 
Mike: Because we're such a fine lot of fellows. 
Barney : In what particular way ? 
Mike : In every way. 



•So SILKEN THOMAS 

Barney: That would be going a little too far and, be- 
sides, it would be too general. I'll tell you why. It 
is because Irishmen do everything the ladies tell 
them to do and lot of things the ladies don't ask 
them to do. And what more could they do for the 
ladies? 

JERRY : Nothing more, indeed. Was I telling you 
about the narrow escape I had recently from the 
bullet of a cowardly Sassenah? 

Mike : You didn't say anything about it to me. 

Barney : Nor to me. How did it happen ? 

JERRY : He was a spy and was skulking behind the 
trunk of a big oak-tree when I happened to pass 
by. As soon as my back was turned and I had 
walked about twenty feet he fired at me. The bullet 
knocked my caubeen off, and when I looked behind 
me I saw him running along a boreen through the 
woods as if the Dheeowl himself was after him. 

Mike : Faith, you had a narrow escape, Jerry. Some 
poor old woman that you befriended, or a young 
one that likes you, must have been praying for you. 

Barney: Did you follow him? 

Jerry: I did. 

Barney : Did you overtake him ? 

Jerry: I did. 

Mike: What happened then? 

JERRY : He'll never sin again. 

\They play several tunes and go off] 

[Enter Silken Thomas hastily zvith a dispatch 
in his hand, followed by a soldier. He sits at the 
little camp table and reads the dispatch. Then he 
twites a reply and hands it to the soldier, who 



SILKEN THOMAS 8l 

salutes him and goes out* Silken Thomas rises 
and quickly walks from right to left and back.] 

[Enter a soldier with a dispatch which he hands 
to Silken Thomas after the usual military salute. 
Exit Soldier. Silken Thomas reads the dispatch, 
and then rises quickly to his feet.] 

Silken Thomas: 

What evil news is this? Maynooth has fallen; 

Less through the overwhelming force of those 

Who my ancestral stronghold had besieged 

Than through the treachery of some Sassenah louts 

Amongst its brave defenders; Skeffington, 

The new-appointed Deputy, ensconced 

Within its grudging walls, from which there hang 

The bodies of slain, consecrated priests, 

Friends of my house, and, more important still, 

My suffering country's cause. But very soon 

Maynooth shall be re-captured, and the heads 

Of Skeffington and his chief officers 

Shall on its turrets be enspiked. 

[Enter an Irish Oeeicer] 

Irish Oeeicer: My lord, those disaffected Sassenah 
soldiers who were so fond of boasting of their 
ardent loyalty to you and the noble cause in which 
we are engaged, have run away — deserted — in a 
body; ample proof of preconcerted treachery. 

Silken Thomas : 

Traitors here, 
In my own camp ! The fault is mine. I should 
Their fealty have mistrusted from the first, 
Since they are Sassenahs. But there yet remain 
Enough of my own countrymen to win 



82 SILKEN THOMAS 

The patriotic triumph that we seek, 

i And shall achieve if we this battle win. 

O'Connor's and O'Connell's men are here, 
Bold soldiers every one; and now O'Byrne, 
O'Donnell and O'Neill, with forces strong,, 
Are marching hither. With such brave allies 
The sacred purpose which inflames my heart 
With patriotic fire, and unto which 
My life is consecrated — to destroy 
The domination of the alien foe, 
To banish every vestige of his power — 
Will be accomplished soon. 

[Bnter O'Byrne, accompanied by Moira] 

Silken Thomas (shaking him by the hand) : 
The brave O'Byrne ! 

The O'Byrne: 

Who with his clan has hastened here to join 
Your valiant followers in striking down 
The invading Sassenahs' power; in setting free 
Our motherland from his despotic grasp. 
O'Donnell and his men are not far off ; 
O'Neill is coming also, with the flower 
Of his intrepid army. 

Silken Thomas (to Moira) 

Thou too here T 

[To the O'Byrne] 

But why expose this gentle spouse of thine 

To war's rude perils? 
O'Byrne : I could not keep her back. She has organized 

A corps of nurses for the wounded. 
Silken Thomas: That 

Is strongest, clearest proof that could be given 

Of noblest patriotism. Self-sacrifice 



SILKEN THOMAS 83 

The patriot's brightest mark must ever be. 
Still, I would rather see this post of honor, 
So fraught with danger, filled by some one else. 

Moira : 

We Irishwomen always are prepared 

To risk our lives for our dear country's cause. 

Silken Thomas: 

Fair heroine ! Devotion such as thine 
Trebles our courage, fortifies our hope, 
And adds fresh ardor to our high resolve 
To be successful in this final stage 
Of our great, patriotic enterprise. 

Moira (Going out) : 
We shall succeed ! 

The; O'ByrnE: Let me congratulate you on the vic- 
tories you have won. They have struck terror to 
King Henry's heart. 

Silken Thomas: 

Have you heard any tidings from Dublin? 

The O'ByrnE: Sir William Skeffmgton, who fills 
again the office of Lord Deputy, has returned to 
Dublin, and has announced that in the Castle he 
will henceforth stay, leaving to younger men the 
task of leading the campaign against us. But it 
is known that he has been superseded as Lord 
Deputy by another. 

Silken Thomas : I may perhaps once more lay siege 
to Dublin. 

The O'ByrnE: It was a daring feat — your capture of 
that city at the head of but a few retainers. Now 
the King, petitioned by the Sassenahs of the Pale, 
has sent across Lord Leonard Grey 



84 SIIvK^N THOMAS 

Silken Thomas: My kinsman; and no mean soldier. 

O'Byrne: In supreme command of military matters in 
this country and Lord Deputy in everything but 
name, he's advancing here with re-enforcements. 

Silken Thomas: 

He'll get a warm reception when he comes ! 

[Sound of musketry. The March "O'Donnell 
Aboo" is heard in the distance.] 

O'ByrnE: O'Donneu/s force is here. 

Silken Thomas: 

That fighting tune 
Reminds me of the war-cry of my house, 
That has been heard on many a battlefield, 
But never yet in such a righteous cause 
As this for which we are struggling. 

O'ByrnE: "CromAboo!" 

A battle-cry that pledges victory! 

[Enter O'Donnell's clan marching to "O'Don- 
nell Aboo/' as in Act I. The march "Garryowen" 
follows, O'Byrne exclaiming : "These are my men." 
When they have passed on, O'Donnell enters the 
tent and greets Silken Thomas and The 
O'Byrne.] 

Silken Thomas: 

This coming battle with the Sassenah hordes 
Will be decisive. Therefore, let our plans 
Be thoroughly discussed and carried out 
With vigor and precision. Let us survey 
Out actual position, and take note 
Of what advantages it offers us. 

O'Donnell: An excellent location we have here, with 
scope for admirable strategy. 



SILKEN THOMAS 8$ 

O'Byrne (to O'Donnell) : Moira is here, with nurses 

for our men. 
O'Donnell : Good ! I would like to see her. 
O'Byrns: Come along. 

[ To Silken Thomas] 

We shall return anon. 

[O'Byrns and O'Donnell going off.] 

Silken Thomas: 

Pray, wait while. 
Bad news has reached me from Maynooth. That 

great 
And storied stronghold of our hardy house 
Has just surrendered to old Skeffington. 
He must have captured it ere he returned 
To Dublin. Sassenah traitors were, it seems, 
Within its walls, unknown and unsuspected. 
They helped my enemies when it was besieged. 
I counted on their loyalty. 

O'Byrne : Grave mistake ! Experience has, in more 
than one event, proved that the Sassenah never 
should be trusted. 

O'DonnELL: Ay — sad experience too. 

Silken Thomas: 

I know that well. 
I always have distrusted them, although 
My father counted on their faithfulness. 
- Another instance of their treachery 
Occurred within this hour. A small brigade 
Composed of them entirely, who have fought 
With me in many a recent battle, have 
Deserted in a body. 



86 SILKEN THOMAS 

O'Donnell: Happy riddance! Our ranks are now 
made up of our own men, whom we can trust with- 
out the least misgiving. 

O'Byrne : On native arms the patriot must rely. 

[Enter an Irish Soldier.] 

Soldier (to Silken Thomas) : Our scouts have 
finished reconnoitering. They report that we have 
a marked advantage over the enemy in position ; but 
he is somewhat superior in respect of numbers. 

[Silken Thomas motions to the Soldier to 
retire. Exit Soldier, after saluting.'] 

Silken Thomas : 

But dash and bravery always did outpoint 

Superiority in numbers. 
O'Byrne : 

When 

A nation's freedom is at stake. 

["Parley" bugle sounds.] 

Silken Thomas: 

What's that? 
A bugle sound of parley. What is up? 

[Enter an English Oeeicer in red uniform 
with a flag of truce.] 

English Oeeicer: Lord Thomas, I presume? 

[Silken Thomas nods assent.] 

English Officer: 

Lord Leonard Grey, 
Who of King Henry's army in this land 
Is now supreme commander, sent me here 
To tell thee, as a kinsman and a friend, 



SILKEN THOMAS 8? 

That he requests a parley, with the view 
Of ending further, useless strife. He prays 
That, facing sure defeat, disgrace and death, 
Thou shouldst lay down thine arms. 

Silken Thomas (with animation) : 

Lay down my arms! 
Give up this righteous struggle ! Yield ! Have I 
Thy message heard aright? He is distraught, 
Or much misunderstands me. Sassenah, go ! 
Tell Grey this war for Ireland's freedom shall 
Go on till victory has been achieved, 
Or my brave, faithful followers and myself 
Have on the altar of our country's cause 
Our mingled life-blood poured. 

English Officer: Lord Leonard Grey has written 
thee this letter. 

[He hands a document to Silken Thomas.] 

Silken Thomas (reading) : "Beloved Cousin: It were 
impossible not to admire the rare courage, high 
military ability, and consummate strategy with 
which you have hitherto conducted this insensate 
and, so far as you are personally concerned, foolish 
and unprovoked rebellion against your King. I am 
charged, however, by your noble father, who is- 
suffering from a dangerous sickness, brought on 
by grief, humiliation, and shame at your disloyal 
conduct, to beseech you to lay down your arms and 
to disperse your men, not only as an act of loyalty 
and submission to your sovereign, but as the sole 
condition upon which he — your noble father — can 
be released from the Tower and be permitted to 
return to his native land. The King empowers me 



88 SILKEN THOMAS 

to offer you, in return, full pardon for your heinous 
crime of high treason against his Majesty. 

Leonard Grey" 

[O'Byrne and O'Donnell whisper to each 
other excitedly.] 

Silken Thomas: 

My father living still! Thank Heaven for that! 
And, by desisting from all further strife, 

I can restore him liberty and health 

For, by this time, he must prostrated be 
By my rash-seeming conduct, unaware 
Of what my motives and my reasons were. 

[He pauses] 

Yet what a sacrifice this means to me ! 

To lay down arms upon the very eve 

Of that bright, happy day for which I've yearned 

And fought with all my might — the glorious day 

On which, my country ! I had hoped to place 

The diadem of Freedom on thy brow. 

My father living still ! His future fate 

In my own hands ! 

English Officer: 

Lord Grey will hither come 
When thou thy men hast ordered to return 
A league from hence. He craves an interview 
For this sole purpose — that he may excite 
Enough paternal love within thy breast 
To end thine ailing father's sore suspense. 
His life is now imperilled. Thy reply? 

Silken Thomas: ! 

My men are ready to advance; they now 
Await my orders. But this fateful news 



SILKEN THOMAS 89 

Upsets my plans. They shall retire at once 

The stipulated distance. How I yearn 

To see my valiant father once again! 
O'Byrne and O'Donnell {together) : No, No, No! 
Silken Thomas (to English Officer) : 

Thou wilt retire until I summon thee. 

[Exit English Officer] 

O'Byrne (hotly) : 

It would be worse than folly, — nay, a crime — 

A base betrayal of our country's cause — 

To let this splendid opportunity 

Of crushing, once for all, our Sassenah foe 

Pass unavailed of. 
O'Donnell: It were very madness! And traitorous 

also. 
Silken Thomas: 

Listen, friends, 

Before you both so bitterly condemn me. 

My father's life is to his native land 

As precious as it is to me, his son. 

That life is hanging in the balance now. 
O'Donnell: So, too, is Ireland's liberty. 
O'Byrne : Reflect. 

Through thee we pledged our honor and our swords 

To Ireland's national cause. 

Silken Thomas (placing his hand upon his forehead) : 
I thought him murdered. 

O'Donnell: 

Then it was rather to avenge his death 
Than try to liberate thy country from 
The invaders' cruel and despotic yoke, 
That thou didst organize this armed revolt? 



90 silken thomas 

Silken Thomas: 

Hush! Speak not thus to me. {Looking upward.) 

Great God! Thou knowest 
It was my father's rumored taking off 
That, for the first time, made me realize 
My solemn duty to my native land. 
A moment since, I faltered; quite upset 
By the assurance that my father lives. 
I shall receive Lord Grey ; and to his face 
Refuse with his conditions to comply, 
Even at the awful price that he exacts — 
My much-loved father's death. Retire, my friends, 
Retire the stipulated distance with 
My army ready at a moment's call 
To give quick battle to our enemy. 

O'Donnell: Thy order I obey, but under protest. 

O'Byrne : And so do I, and with a troubled heart. 

[Exeunt O'Byrne and O'Donnell.] 

Silken Thomas : 

I'll tell that Sassenah officer I consent 
To hold a parley with Lord Leonard Grey. 
[Exit] 
[Enter one of Silken Thomas' soldiers.] 

Soldier (looking around him) : Musha, where is our 
great leader, Silken Thomas? I could have sworn 
I saw him a minute ago. Well, of course, he's giv- 
ing orders about the great battle that will soon be- 
gin. I believe it will be sharp and short; and then 
we'll bid farewell to the cursed Sassenah. Oh, but 
this will be a grand day for Old Ireland ! All the 
murders and all the massacres that we have been 
the victims of, will be avenged today! Thankful 



SILKEN THOMAS 91 

am I that I have been spared to take part in this 
fight. If I'm mortally wounded I'll be happy, with 
your name, Green Erin! agra machree! upon my 
dying lips. 

[Enter another of Silken Thomas' soldiers] 

Second Soldier: What do you think of this latest 
mysterious move, Shamus? 

First Soldier : What move do you mean, Terry ? 

Second Soldier: Our army is slowly retreating — to 
what part I don't know. There's only a handful 
of us left here to act as body-guard over Silken 
Thomas. 

Second Soldier: But I heard both these chieftains, 
before they mounted their horses, to lead their fol- 
lowers towards our retreating forces, say strange 
things. "I doubt the wisdom of Silken Thomas 
in ordering this temporary retreat," said one. "I 
doubt it also, as you know," said the other. And he 
added : "But since he's the Commander-in-Chief 
there's nothing for us to do but to obey." I think, 
Shamus, there's something wrong somewhere. 

First Soldier: Ah, what's the use of worrying? It's 
time enough to bid the divil "good morning" when 
you meet him. 

[Terry gazes out through the entrance to the 
Tent] 

Terry : Come and look, Shamus. I'm afraid I can't 
believe my eyes. See! Here's a company of the 
enemy approaching us, holding aloft flags of truce. 
What do they want? 

[Shamus looks out] 

Shamus : Why, it's as plain as a pike-staff. They are 
coming to ask Silken Thomas to give them easy 



92 SILKEN THOMAS 

terms if they surrender. They're afraid to fight us. 

I'm very sorry. I never felt more anxious to kill 

half a dozen red-coats than I do now. 
Terry: I share your anxiety in that line. 
[Re-enter Silken Thomas] 
Terry: My lord, I can't understand 

Silken Thomas: 

'Tis simply this : Lord Grey, in chief command 

Of all the Sassenah forces here, desires 

To hold a parley with me. Please withdraw. 

[The two soldiers withdraw] 

[Enter Lord Leonard Grey, with numerous 
follozvers, who slowly surround Silken Thomas] 

Lord Grey: 

Impetuous, traitorous, and unwary youth! 

Upon a triumph with such ease achieved 

I had not counted. Seize the traitor, — quick ! 

Silken Thomas {struggling) : 
What infamy is this ? 

Lord Grey: 

A simple trap 
That I prepared for thee, and into which 
Thou hast with crass credulity now fallen. 
To London Tower thou shalt at once proceed, 
To share thy father's fate. 

Silken Thomas: Then he was slain? 

Lord Grey: 

He only paid the penalty incurred 

By treachery to his King. A similar doom 

Thou hast much more deserved than he, and soon 

Wilt suffer. 



SILKEN THOMAS 93 

Silken Thomas {after again vainly trying to release 
himself) : 

'Tis too true. I am entrapped. 

Perfidious Sassenah ! Hell has never held 

A falser, viler miscreant than thou! 
Lord Grey (to his men) : Take him along. We have 

no time to lose. 

[End of Act IV.] 



ACT V. 

Scene; I. — Tyburn, near London. Morning. The old 
gallows, "Tyburn's triple tree," close by. A year 
and a half are supposed to have elapsed since the 
Fourth Act. 

[Bnter De La Hide), disguised as an English 
peasant.] 

De La Hide (peering around him) : 

Is this the place? (Sees the gallows) Ay, there 

the gallows stands — 
The ghastly instrument by which man's law 
The calls of justice executes or thwarts, 
And murder oft by murder is avenged. 

[Bnter O'Donneee, also disguised as an 
Bnglish peasant.] 

O'Donnele (to De La Hide) : 

A cold and gloomy day. Thou hast come here 
To see the Irish rebel leader hanged? 



94 SILKEN THOMAS 

De La Hide (eyeing him suspiciously) : 

What boots it if I have? And yet, methinks, 

It were a satisfaction to behold 

A traitor expiating with his life 

His horrid crime. I'll stay to see him die. 

They say that he is noble, young and brave, 

And battled like a hero. 

O'Donneee: 

So I heard. 
A rumor adds : it was his father's death 
Upon the block, by order of the King, 
That drove him to rebellion. Dost thou know 
If that is true? 

De La Hide: 

I heard that story, too; 
But whether it is false or true, is more 
Than I can tell. Of these affairs of state 
Men of the class 'mongst whom my way of life 
Is laid can know but little. 

O'Donnele : 

I have asked 
About his father's crime, but have not learned 
The nature of his guilt. 

De La Hide: 

If innocent 
His father was, then what a pity 'tis ! 

O'Donneel : 

Ay, what a pity! Is it possible 

That guiltless men can such an awful doom 

In silence suffer? 

De La Hide: 

In this wicked world 



SILKEN THOMAS 95 

Few things repugnant to the moral law 

Can surely be declared impossible. 
O'Donneel : "All things are possible," they say in 

France. 
De La Hide {eagerly) : Then thou hast been in France? 
O'Donneel: A little while. 
De La Hide : I, too, have been in France. 

O'Donneee: 

A sprightly lot 
Those Frenchmen are. Politeness, elegance, 
And wit seem with them born. 

De La Hide: 

I think they are 
A trifle too polite. 

O'Donnele : 

Politeness gives 
The grace and dignity that social life 
Derives its charm from ; and it seems to be 
A happy fault indeed to have too much. 

De La Hide: 

More oft it is assumed than felt. At best, 
'Tis artificial. 

O'Donneee : 

That I do not grant. 
But even if it were so, is it not 
An aspect of the beauty of the mind ? 

De La Hide: 

From motive only every merit springs. 

In what a strange direction have our thoughts 

Begun to drift! {He furtively scans O'DonnEEe) 

{Aside) He is not what he seems. 

I must be guarded in my speech with him. 



9& SILKEN THOMAS 

O'Donnsu, (Aside) : 

A polished gentleman is here disguised. 
Is it through adverse fortune or design 
He wears that lowly garb? I am afraid 
I've been imprudent saying what I said. 

(Aloud) 

Thou hast the air and tone of one whose breast 
Smarts with a sense of wrong or grief. 

De La Hids : Of both. 

O'Donneu, : 

Thou hast my sympathy. Command my aid 
If aught it may avail thee, and thy cause 
Is square with justice. 

Ds La Hide : 

Truth and honesty 
* Such frank and generous impulses denote. 
But we are strangers. 

O'Donneu, : 

In my native land 
A stranger holds a passport to our hearts. 
De La Hide; : Thy birthplace, then, is Ireland. 
O'DonnSli,: So is thine. 
D£ La Hide : Whence this conclusion ? 

O'DonnsUv : 

By thy promptitude 
In ascertaining where I first saw light. 
A strange encounter this, at such an hour, 
In such a place ! 

De La Hide : 

Perhaps a kindred thought 
Has led us hither. 



SILKEN THOMAS 97 

O'DONNELE : 

Memory whispers me 
That we have met before. 
De La Hide : 

It speaks the truth. 
I am not unfamiliar with thy voice. 
Already have I recognized thee. (O'Donneee starts) 

Thou 
Amongst his friends wert numbered, so was I. 
Thou art O'Donneee (They shake hands) of the 
faithful North. 
O'Donnele : 

And who art thou? 
De La Hide : 

My name is DE La Hide. 
O'Donneee : 

Sir James, this meeting to an aching heart 
Brings welcome balm. 

De La Hide : 

The grief we know is shared 
Stings less than that which we alone must bear. 
Of this encounter I am doubly glad. 
Immured in prison since young Lord Kildare, 
At the beginning of his just revolt, 
O'er captured Dublin raised his Silken flag, 
And only yesterday released, I thirst 
For information touching the events 
Of the remainder of the brief career 
That ends this morning here. 

O'DonnEU, : 

That bright, sad tale, 
Admits of brief narration. Forth he went 
And battled fiercely with his country's foes; 



98 SILKEN THOMAS 

And triumph after triumph he achieved. 
Week followed week, and month succeeded month; 
And still he fought, relentless, tireless, till, 
His strong-hold at Maynooth by treachery lost, 
And he campaigning in the south, betrayed 
By alien plotters in his chosen ranks, 
An easy victim to a cunning plot, 
Having confided in the solemn pledge 
His false-tongued, sinuous kinsman, Grey, had given, 
He stopped hostilities, and from the field 
Retired, as in his candor he believed, 
With all the honors of the righteous war. 
What followed ? He was captured, chained, and sent 
To London, where in jail he has been kept 
Until this hour. His uncles share his fate. 
De La Hide : 

What? Silken Thomas ceased to battle ere 
He gained the end for which he bravely fought: 
To bless with liberty his native land? 
That is astonishing. I would have sworn 
He had preferred to die. 

O'Donneel : 

He did not yield 
To force superior or through lack of will 
To keep on fighting, as thou hast surmised. 
Tyrants may kill — they cannot conquer — men 
Of his heroic parts. He was deceived. 
Lord Grey assured him that his father lived, 
And that the rumor that he was beheaded 
Was fabricated by the men who schemed 
His aged father's ruin and his own. 

De La Hide (gazing in the distance) : 

Now starts the sad procession. In its midst 



SILKEN THOMAS 99 

Walks, firm of step and calm of visage, he 
Whose bosom once enclosed a nation's fate. 

O'DonnivLIv (gazing in the same direction) : Death 
holds no bitterness for such as he. 

De La Hide : 

How could it? To the virtuous and the brave 
Death is the only portal that admits 
To real life. Beyond that sombre gate 
Unconscious worth its guerdon will receive, 
Surprised at merits of desires and deeds 
So seeming trivial that they were forgot. 

[He pauses] 
Let us avert our faces when he conies, 
Lest he should recognize us. If he did, 
His mind, now tranquil with its sense of right, 
Might with emotion be disturbed. 

O'D0NN£LIv : 

If we 
Could rescue him by giving up our lives 
For his, how happy both of us would die ! 

Du La Hide: 

Alas ! 'Twere worse than useless to essay 

To help him now. Our lives would wantonly, 

In fatuous, hopeless, and inglorious strife, 

Be thrown away. But to the sacred cause 

For which he dies — the cause which is our own — 

We also can devote our lives. 

O'Donneli, : 



I see, 



Beside the hero, keeping step with him, 
The patriotic prelate, brave MacHugh, 
His post of double duty occupying 
As priest and friend. 



100 silken thomas 

De La Hide: 

His presence now will soothe 
The final moments of our youthful chief. 

O'Donneli, : 

How sad, humiliating, is our sense 
Of abject helplessness, when on our ears 
The plaintive and emergent voice of need 
Must, as it were, unheeded fall ! My soul 
Is wrung with bitterness, as well as grief. 

(with sudden energy) 

Oh, for a squadron of Tyrconnell's men ! 

De La Hide: 

'Tis difficult to check a pitying tear 

When thinking of the death he now must die 

On yonder cursed gibbet, in the spring 

And primal fragrance of his manhood's years. 

In vain will chivalry's emblazoned scroll 

Be scanned for knightlier life or death than his. 

O'Donnell : 

It is a wonder that he has survived 
The treatment that the brutal Sassenah 
Have made him undergo since his arrest. 
In foulest dungeon they have kept him chained 
For many agonizing months, as though 
He were the vilest malefactor born, 
Instead of being a prisoner of war. 
To him, so gently murtured, so refined, 
That daily, nightly, torture must have brought 
As dreadful pangs as could the flames of hell. 
This morning's hangings will exterminate 
The famous family of the Geraldines. 



SILKEN THOMAS IOI 

First went the Chieftain, murdered in the Tower; 
And now his brave, young, patriotic son. 

[points to the gallows] 

De La Hide;: 

On one important point thou art mistaken. 
This most atrocious butchery will not 
Accomplish its fetal purpose. There remains 
The brother of Lord Thomas, twelve years old, 
For whom they now are searching, with the view 
Of also putting him to death. 

[lozuers his voice] He is 

Concealed in France — and thus the noble line 
Of valorous Kildares will be preserved 
Despite the murderous wishes of the King. 

O'Donnell : 

A brother but a dozen years of age ! 
I had not heard of him before. God grant 
Him safety, health, and vigorous manhood, till 
He shall, returning to his native land, 
Wreak vengeance on the slayer of his kin, 
The vile oppressors of his native land ! 

[Bnter two English Workmen.] 

First Workman (looking up at the gallows) : The 
gibbet prepared again! Who's to be hanged this 
time, I wonder? 

Second Workman : Didn't you hear about it yet ? 
Why, a whole half dozen of those low Irish rebels, 
all belonging to the same disloyal family. The 
troublesome brood will now be all wiped out. 

First Workman : A good riddance ! Let's wait to see 
them dangle. 



102 SILKEN THOMAS 

Second Workman : But I've some work to do. I must 
be off at once. Business before pleasure, you know. 

First Workman : Away with work this forenoon. I'd 
gladly lose two days' wages to see these Irish hang- 
ings. It is something that doesn't happen every day. 

Second Workman: I've a half mind to stay. Yet — 

First Workman {looking) : Why, one of them is 
coming now. 

Second Workman {looking in the same direction) : He 
is indeed. I'll wait to see the sport. 

First Workman : When this Irish rebel has been 
hanged, and his head has been cut off and stuck 
on that spike up there, I'll throw stones at it. 

Second Workman: I'll join you in the fun. 

De La Hide {to O'Donneel) : 

List to those Sassenah rascals. How they gloat 
O'er an approaching massacre, like fiends. 
Because the victims are all Irishmen 
They call it sport. 

O'Donnele : 

The heartless ruffians ! I 
Shall make them eat their words, or send them 

sprawling 
Upon the ground. 
De La Hide : Nay, don't be rash, I pray. 
O'Donnell: No longer can I stand their brutish glee. 
[O'Donneee rushes at the two workmen, and 
knocks one down after the other. One rises, and is 
knocked down again. The other rises and runs 
away, followed by his companion.] 

De La Hide : 

Thus unconsidered action may attract 



SIIvKEN THOMAS 103 

To us attention that may culminate 

In our arrest, and speedy deathly doom. 

O'Donneu, (looking) : 

There is no danger. Those two curs are running , 

In opposite direction to the gang 

Of Sassenah soldiery that hither come. 

[Enter O'Byrne and Moira, both disguised.] 

Moira (to O'Byrne) : That is my brother's voice. 

O'Byrnd : 

I hope it is. 
He promised he would meet us here, so that 
We three might take a final, farewell look 
Into the youthful patriot-martyr's face, 
Ere death released the soul that through it shined. 

Moira: And his companion — who is he, I wonder? 

O'ByrnE : If 'tis your brother I shall quickly know. 

[He addresses a greeting in Gaelic to 
O'Donnixl, who rushes to him with out-stretched 
hand.] 

O'Donneel : 

I feared that you had lost your way, or had 
Been misinformed as to the fatal hour 
When Sassenah vengeance will once more allay 
Its newly whetted thirst for Irish blood. 

O'Byrne : 

We missed our way, indeed ; and were afraid 
That we should reach here when 'twould be too late. 
And your companion yonder, who is he? 

O'Donneix : 

Kildare's most faithful friend, James De La Hide. 

[To Moira] 
Moira asthoreen, it's a perilous trip 
That you have taken. 



104 silken thomas 

O'Byrnk : 

Nothing could prevent 
Her coming here. 

[De La Hide goes over to O'Byrne, O'Don- 
nell and Moira.] 

Moira : 

Could I remain away 
When this intrepid Knight, this noble-souled, 
Pure-hearted patriot bows his youthful head, 
Undaunted, to receive the martyr's crown? 

[Orchestra plays "Savourneen Dheelish"] 

[Enter procession, Silken Thomas, in chains, 
and looking ghastly and pale, accompanied by 
Monsignor MacHugh, and preceded and followed 
by soldiers.] 

[Knell rings] 

Silken Thomas: 

The individual dies ; the race lives on 
Till Time his course has ended. It is thus 
With Freedom's holy cause. When they are gone 
Whose every thought and action were for her, 
The spirit that inflamed their hearts and minds 
Glows brighter still in those they leave behind 
To carry on the noble fight; and so 
No patriot ever lived or died in vain. 

[Knell tolls again] 

[Curtain] 

end 0e drama 



% 






tiicf 



